Breaking the Rule - DISCONTINUED
by marvelouslystupid
Summary: After a tragic date all Daniel Young wanted to do was go home and finish a bottle of wine. However, he instead found himself being transported to an alien planet on his way home and meets a mysterious stranger named the Doctor. Watch as Daniel sees the Doctor at his worst all the while the Doctor fears losing another companion and the end of his song. First in To Own His Hearts
1. Planet of the Dead

A/N: Hey what's up you guys! Welcome to my account where today I shall bring you a Fanfiction idea that was been in the works for _far_ too long if you ask me. This series is set within the Tenth Doctor's Specials so this series will be 6 chapters (4 episode stories and 2 mini chapters.)

The Story will be told from the Doctor and Daniel's joint point of view so they won't know all the facts that we did when we watched the show, so there will be scenes missing from the chapters.

Daniel just stands below the Doctor's shoulders with light brown hair, blue eyes and often wears a button up shirt.

But now, on with the show.

~DW~ means a scene break

 _~DW~_ means a flashback

Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who, all rights go to the BBC, but I do own any and all original characters. If I did then we'd have mentions to past companions during Moffat's run as showrunner instead of acting like they never existed.

Breaking the Rules - Planet of the Dead

~DW~

It had quite possibly been the worse date Daniel had ever been on! Daniel Young practically stormed out of the small diner he had set up for them to have a bite to eat to ease them into the night. He had hoped that it would have been nice but the prat had only rocked up to the diner half an hour late and reeked of alcohol.

Even though Daniel was nervous and did allow himself to have a glass of wine before he left to calm his nerves but it didn't give him the excuse to drink himself to the point that if he wanted to meet someone like that we would of gone clubbing. He had said sorry to the staff, the brunette waitress that had been going to serve them shrugged it off and said she'd call for a taxi for both of them. He had said no, there had been a bus stop only a couple minutes down the road that he knew would take him back towards the block of flats he was currently living in.

So here he was, standing at the bus stop dressed in a black and white long sleeved plaid shirt, grey slacks and black Chelsea boots with a foul expression on his face, desperately waiting for the bus to take him back to his flat. Five minutes passed before the bus turned up, paying the driver with a forced smile Daniel seated himself towards the back of the bus.

~DW~

A few stops passed by with some of the passengers leaving, not that Daniel was paying them any piece of mind as he stared out of the window. But the odd times he did look at the people on the bus he could see there was a black couple; Daniel guessed that they were at least in their fifties, towards the front of the bus was a young black youth and finally a blonde woman sat alone in the row directly in front of Daniel.

This time when the bus stopped a woman with black hair and dressed all in black quickly hopped on the bus, speaking to driver in hushed whispers but Daniel could tell she was in a rush and found it strange that she ended up removing one of her earrings before she made her way up the bus to the empty row next to Daniel. He shrugged it off about to return to looking out the window when _another_ person entered the bus this time dressed in a long brown coat and plimsolls entered. "You're just in time, mate." Daniel heard the driver say and watched as the man swiped his card.

The doors closed and the bus moved off, the man in the long brown coat set himself down next to Daniel who grinned and offered him a piece of a chocolate egg. "Hello, I'm the Doctor," The Doctor introduced and Daniel expected there to be a continuation of his name but he stopped. "Happy Easter."

Daniel gave the Doctor an odd look but accepted the chocolate piece, unable to stop himself and muttered a thanks. "The funny thing is, I don't often do Easter," The Doctor continued, taking Daniel's willingness to eat the chocolate as some sort of sign for him to talk. "I can never find it, it's always at a different time, although I remember the original, between you and me what really happened was."

Now Daniel wasn't always quick to judge someone but this Doctor bloke was a _bit_ of a weirdo, he could barely keep up with him talking and his friends said that he chatted some… His thought and the rambling from the Doctor was cut off by a muffled beeping noise. "Oh sorry, hold onto that for me," Handing the rest of the egg over to Daniel, who had just finished the original piece of chocolate. "Actually,

go on, have it, finish it. It's all full of sugar and I'm determined to keep these teeth." The Doctor pulled out a hand-held gizmo which was lit up and making the bleeping noise. "Ah. Oh, we've got excitation, I'm picking up something very strange."

"I know that feeling." Daniel replied, the black haired woman suddenly coughed and Daniel smirked knowing she had been listening in on the Doctor babbling.

The Doctor remained oblivious to this small interaction as he focused on the device. "Rhondium particles, that's what I'm looking for, this thing detects them," The Doctor explained, the woman slid over towards the Doctor as she listened in on his rambling. "Look, this should go round, that little dish there." He began to smack it against his hand, expecting it to start working all of a sudden.

"Right now, a way out would come in pretty handy," The black haired woman spoke up, looking at the Doctor. "Can you detect me one of those?"

While Daniel, the Doctor and the black haired woman spoke with each other, they missed the black woman turn to her husband. "Lou, can you hear them?" The woman asked, glancing around the bus.

Lou, her husband, turned in the seat to face her with a slight frown. "Hear what, sweetheart?" He asked.

"The voices. So many voices. Calling to us. Calling so far." She replied, starting to sound a bit frantic.

"Ah the little dish is going round!" The Doctor grinned, sounding surprised that it actually worked and it made Daniel smile slightly.

"Fascinating," The woman rolled her eyes, settling back into her seat.

"And round. Whoa…" The Doctor held the device away from him as it began to spin faster and faster until part of the gadget exploded.

"I don't suppose it's meant to do that, is it?" Daniel had to ask, watching as the grin on the Doctor's faded slightly. It was unsettling.

The blonde woman, who had been trying her hardest to ignore the Doctor rambling, turned to give the Doctor an unamused look. "Excuse me," She asked. "Do you mind?"

The Doctor stood. "Sorry. That was my little dish."

"Can't you turn that thing off?" She asked once again, rolling her eyes.

The Doctor ignored her and turned to face Daniel and the woman. "What were your names?"

"Christina." Christina, the black haired woman, introduced.

"Daniel." Daniel replied, frowning.

"Christina, Daniel you both are going to want to hold on tight," The Doctor placed him back next to Daniel and gripped onto the handle. "Everyone, hold on!" He yelled, Daniel and Christina did as he asked even though Daniel did send him a concerned look.

The passengers were about to turn to face him until the bus lurched and began to shake as the passengers screamed as they jerked forwards. The Doctor felt himself lose his balance and was prepared to fall to the floor until he felt a sharp tug on the sleeve of his coat, sending Daniel a quick nod he made his way down the walkway towards the driver. A window shattered and sparks began to fly from the overhead wires, a young man with brown hair fell down the stairs from the upper deck.

"What's going on?!" He exclaimed, trying to steady himself on at the base of the stairs.

There was a blinding light and more windows began to shatter. The Doctor moved forward towards the driver when it suddenly stopped. Sunlight streamed through the windows, making the passengers squint at the sudden change in lighting. The Doctor quickly made his way to the door, opening it and looked out onto a desert. "End of the line," He stepped out of the bus, Daniel and the other passengers scrambled out of their seats to follow the Doctor. "Call it a hunch, but I think we've gone a little bit further than Brixton."

The passengers seemed to hesitate to step out but Daniel and Christine pushed past them and out onto the desert. Behind them stood the bus with the top deck of the bus was crushed and smoke was wafting from it. Daniel could only hope that the young man was the only passenger up there.

Daniel and Christina made their way towards the Doctor, who was lying on the ground as he let the sand sift through his fingers. "That's impossible!" The blonde woman cried, looking up at the sky. "There are three suns! _Three_ of them!"

"Like when all those planets were up in the sky!" The black youth replied, thinking back to the massive invasion of Daleks.

"But it was Earth that moved back then, wasn't it?" The other young man frowned, looking at the black youth.

"Oh, man, we're on another world!"

"It's still intact, though!" The driver turned to face the bus and let a chuckle. "Not as bad as it looks. The chassis's still holding together. Oh, my boss is gonna murder me!"

"Can you still drive it?" The blonde woman turned to him.

"Oh, no, the wheels are stuck. Look at them, they're never gonna budge."

Christina and Daniel had made their way over to the Doctor, Christina had discarded her jacket and was now wearing a black short-sleeved top while Daniel had rolled his sleeves up as much as he could and unbuttoned the top two buttons. Christina put on a pair of sunglasses while Daniel just put a hand above his eyes in an attempt to block out the sun. "Ready for every emergency." Christina said.

The Doctor looked at her and then at Daniel, taking a pair of sunglasses out of his pocket and handed them to Daniel before taking off his own glasses and used the sonic screwdriver on them. He then put them back on, now tinted. "Me too!" He grinned before nodding at Daniel. "Him as well."

"And what's your name?" Christina asked, more at the Doctor then Daniel.

"I'm the Doctor."

"Name, not rank."

"The Doctor." Daniel said this time, he had thought of the similar question but in such a formal question.

"What he doesn't have a surname?" Christina turned to Daniel, who just shrugged.

"Just the Doctor." The Doctor agreed.

"You're called 'the Doctor?'"

"Yes, I am."

"That's not a name, that's a psychological condition."

"Bit odd though," Daniel agreed with her. "I mean naming yourself after your profession is a bit extreme." Christina smirked at him.

"Funny sort of sand, this," The Doctor cut in, he was sure if he didn't that they'd continue to go on about his name. "There's a trace of something else," The two humans watched as he dragged his finger through the sand and _licked_ it. "Ack. Eurgh. Blah, that's not good." The Doctor spat out the sand wiping his tongue against the back of his hand.

"Well it wouldn't be, it's _sand_." Daniel deadpanned.

"No, it tastes like," The Doctor stood, shaking his head as he decided to not tell the humans what the sand tasted like. "Never mind."

Christina shrugged it off and began to look around the desert but Daniel frowned. "What is it? What's wrong?" He asked, concern etched on his face.

The Doctor was about to reply, tell him that nothing was wrong, when the young black youth pointed at him. Behind them stood the rest of the passengers, excluding Lou and his wife. "Hold on a minute, I saw you mate!" He pointed at him, Daniel took a small step forward almost like he was going to defend the Doctor, had it not been for Christina holding him back. "You had that thing, that machine. Did you make this happen?"

The Doctor rolled his eyes. "Oh, humans on buses, always blaming me," He muttered before raising his voice to inform the humans what he had been doing. "If you must know, I was tracking a hole in the fabric of reality. Call it a hobby, but it was a tiny little hole no danger to anyone. Suddenly it gets big, and we drive right through it."

"But then where is it?" The driver asked, looking around the desert. "There's nothing, there's just sand!"

The humans nodded with the driver; surely if there had been some sort of hole they'd see it. "Alright, if you want proof," The Doctor grabbed a handful of sand and threw it at the space between the bus to reveal a swirling vortex. "We drove through this." The humans looked in awe at the swirling vortex which disappeared almost as quick as it had appeared.

"And that's?" Christina asked.

"A door, a door in space." The Doctor replied.

"So what you're saying is, on the other side of that is home?" The driver questioned, starting to feel hopeful that he could return. "We can get back to London through there?"

"The bus came through, but we can't."

"Well then, what are we waiting for?" The driver tried to rally the humans.

"Oh, no, don't!"

"I'm going home, mate!" The driver yelled over his shoulder as he ran at the portal.

"I said don't!" The Doctor yelled.

They all watched in horror as the moment the driver hit the portal, he let out a painful scream as his body caught fire burning to a skeleton before falling through. Daniel gasped, his hand shoot up to his mouth as he felt his stomach churn.

How would they get home now? He thought to himself as he looked at where they'd just witnessed the death of that man. The Doctor had warned him but would it have stopped him? Daniel could try and blame the Doctor for the man's death, anyone would but even Daniel found it hard to blame anyone other then the driver… he didn't even know his name. It's funny that you never think of things like that until you've faced with a situation like this.

"He was a skeleton, man!" The black youth shouted, horrified. "He was just bones, just _bones_!"

The Doctor walked to the bus, leaning in to examine it. "It was the bus," The Doctor rubbed his chin, behind him stood Daniel and Christina but he paid them no mind at all. "Look at the damage… that was the bus protecting us… great big box of metal."

"Rather like a Faraday cage?" Christina spoke up.

Even with the little knowledge of science Daniel knew he actually knew what that was. "What like being in inside a car is the safest place in a thunderstorm," Daniel stepped back and looked at the damaged bus again, with the idea of a Faraday cage in his mind he pointed out an obvious problem. "But with Faraday cages doesn't it need to be closed?"

Christina nodded in agreement. "He's right and that thing's been ripped wide open."

"Slightly different dynamics with a wormhole," He smiled at the duo, impressed by the suggestion. "There's enough metal to make it work, I think." _He hoped_. Last thing he needed was more humans dying because he made the wrong calculation.

There was determination in Daniel's eyes. "Then we have to drive five tonnes of bus, which is currently buried in the sand, and we've got nothing but our bare hands," Daniel looked the Doctor in the eyes as he started to smile. "Correct?"

"I'd say nine and a half tonnes, but the point still stands, yes."

Christina cleared her throat. "Then we need to apply ourselves to the problem with discipline!" Daniel and the Doctor looked at Christina at the same time that it almost made Christina laugh. "Which starts with appointing a leader."

Puffing out his chest, the Doctor agreed with Christina's statement and Daniel could only shake his head at the action. "Yes, at last, thank you, so…"

Christina cut in. "Well, thank goodness you've got me!" Turning away from the Doctor, who stood there pouting while Daniel snickered at him, she faced passengers. "Everyone do exactly as I say! Inside the bus immediately!"

"Is it safe in there?" The other young man asked, getting up from where he had been knelt comforting the blonde woman.

"I don't think anything's safe any more, but if it's a choice between baking in there or roasting out here, I'd say baking is slower," Well at least she was honest, the Doctor thought, as he knew he probably would of rambled out a lie that would have quickly turned into some form of truth. "Come on! All of you. Right now! And both of you as well, 'the Doctor' and Mister Young."

The Doctor gave a mock salute and Daniel just rolled his eyes. "Yes, ma'am."

"Up! Come on!"

~DW~

"Point five, the crucial thing is, do not panic," Christina said from the front of the bus, she'd been listing off some survival tips for the passengers. "Quite apart from anything else, the smell of sweat inside this thing is reaching atrocious levels. We need to add anymore. Point six. Team identification. Names. I'm Christina, this man is apparently 'the Doctor'."

"Hello." He grinned at the group.

"And beside him is Daniel Young," Christina continued, nodding at Daniel who had sat with the Doctor and he offered a small wave to the group. "And you?" She turned to face the young man.

"Nathan." He waved.

"I'm Barclay." The black youth continued.

"Angela, Angela Whittaker." The blonde woman raised her hand.

"My name's Louis, everyone calls me Lou," Lou introduced before gesturing to the woman beside him. "And this is Carmen."

"Excellent. Memorise those names, there might be a test." Christina nodded and Daniel smirked at the joke. "Point seven, assessment and application of knowledge. Over to you, the Doctor."

"I thought you were in charge." The Doctor retorted.

"I am and a good leader utilises her strength," She shrugged, almost as if it was obvious. "You seem to be the brainbox. So, start boxing."

The Doctor sat on the back of his seat, facing the crowd as Christina leaned against the drivers' door. "Right. So, the wormhole, we were in the wrong place at the wrong time. It was just an accident."

Carmen shook her head. "No, it wasn't," She spoke, drawing the attention of the passengers. "That thing, the doorway. Someone made it. For a reason."

"How do you know?" Daniel asked, eying Carmen for the moment.

"She's got a gift," Lou spoke up, defending his wife. "Ever since she was a little girl, she can just… tell things. We do the lottery, twice a week."

"You don't look like millionaires." Christina commented.

"No, but we win ten pounds. Every week, twice a week, ten pounds. Don't tell me that's not a gift."

The Doctor moved his hand behind his back, allowing Daniel to watch as he held up three fingers. "Tell me, Carmen. How many things am I holding up?"

"Three," The Doctor added another finger, Daniel glanced at his fingers then at Carmen. "Four."

The Doctor grinned. "Very good! Low level psychic ability exacerbated by an alien sun," He made his over to her, sitting down before her. "What can you see, Carmen? Tell me. What's out there?"

Carmen closed her eyes as she focused. "Something… something is coming," She let out a shaky breath, fearful of what was being shown. "Riding on the wind. And shining."

"What is it"?

"Death. Death is coming."

Angela began to weep. "We're going to die."

"I knew it, man, I said so." Barclay stressed.

"We can't die out here. No one's gonna find us." Nathan muttered.

The passengers' voices began to overlap; the Doctor watched it unfold before him as he tried to find the right moment to cut in. "This isn't exactly helping." Christina remarked, raising her voice.

"Shut up, we're not your soldiers." Barclay glared.

"It's not doing any good…" Nathan said, agreeing with Christina.

"You're upsetting her, be quiet." Lou remarked, rubbing Carmen's arm.

"Will we be bone, like the bus driver?!"

"Stop whimpering, all of you." Christina tried but to no avail.

"Alright now," The Doctor tried instead. "Stop it, everyone, stop it…" But his attempt was drowned out by the raised voices.

Daniel stood up from his seat and took a deep breath. "Everyone just SHUT UP!" Daniel snapped, he ignored the surprised look from the Doctor, and gave everyone his apparent 'parent' look. "This isn't the time for us to start panicking!"

The arguing stopped and the only sound was Angela crying, Daniel walked down the walkway towards the doors, when the Doctor stood in front of Angela and gripped her shoulders. "Angela, look at me. Angela, Angela, answer me one question, Angela. That's it, at me, at me," She stopped crying and looked up at him. "There we go, Angela, just answer me one thing. When you got on this bus, where were you going?"

"Doesn't matter now, does it?" She sniffed, wiping her eyes.

"Answer the question."

"Just home." She sighed.

"And what's home?"

"Me, and Mike and Suzanne, that's my daughter. She's 18."

"Suzanne. Good," He sat down beside Angela and looked back at Barclay. "What about you?

Barclay shrugged. "Dunno. Going round Tina's."

"Who's Tina? Your girlfriend?"

"Not yet." He gave the Doctor a small smile.

"Good boy. What about you, Nathan?"

"Bit strapped for cash, I lost my job last week," Nathan admitted with a smile. "I was gonna stay in. Watch TV."

"Brilliant. And you two?"

"I was going to cook." He smiled at them.

"It's his turn tonight," Carmen added, smiling at him. "Then I clear up."

"What's for tea?"

"Chops," Lou stated with a shrug. "Nice couple of chops and gravy. Nothing special."

"Oh, that's special, Lou. That is so special. Chops and gravy. Mmm! What about you, Christina?"

"I was going… so far away." Christina revealed.

The Doctor turned to Daniel, who had sat back down into his seat embarrassed by the outburst. "What about you, Daniel?"

The Doctor turned to ask Daniel, but he didn't look at him as he just stared out the window, his face red from embarrassment at his sudden outburst. He nodded to himself, making a note to ask him once they were away from the others and once he had allowed himself a moment of calm down. "Far away. Chops and gravy. Watching TV. Mike and Suzanne and poor old Tina."

"Hey!" Barclay chuckled.

"Just think of them. 'Cos that planet out there, all three suns and wormholes and alien sand, that planet is nothing," The Doctor affirmed them, the humans had forgotten about their worries and where now focusing on those they've got back on Earth. "You hear me? Nothing compared to all those things waiting for you. Food and home and people. Hold on to that. Cos we're gonna get there. I promise. I'm gonna get you home."

~DW~

Barclay and Nathan stepped out of the bus, holding seat cushions, as the Doctor, Daniel and Christina looked on. "Here we go! That's my boys!" The Doctor cheered. "We lay a flat surface between the bus and the wormhole, like duckboards, and reverse into it!"

"Let some air out of the tyres, just a little bit," Christina suggested. "Spreads the weight of the bus, gives you more grip."

"Oh, that's good!"

"Holidays in the Kalahari."

"Yeah, but those wheels go deep." Barclay pointed out.

"Then start digging."

"With what?"

"With this." They watched as Christina reached into her bag and pulled out a folded shovel.

Daniel and the Doctor just gave Christina a surprised and amused look, the Doctor taking it and opened it before handing it to Barclay. "Got anything else in there?" Daniel asked.

"Try that, might help with the seats." Christina handed Nathan a small axe, sending Daniel a wink.

"Thanks!" Nathan took the axe and headed back into the bus.

"I can't find the keys." Angela called from within the bus.

Daniel ran to the doors. "Buses don't have keys. There's a master switch, one button for start and the other for stop, yeah?" He offer a smile to Angela, he had apologised to her and the other passengers for shouting, as she sat in the drivers seat.

"Right. Hold on, oh, I've got it," Looking down at the switchboard, she flicked a switch. "Here we go, hold tight, ding ding!" She pressed the button and Daniel couldn't help but pull a face as the engines made a horrible spluttering sound before promptly dying.

"Oh that doesn't sound too good." Daniel ran round the back of the bus towards where the engine was, the Doctor and Christina following, and opened the hatch stepping back as sand threatened to be blown in his face. "Just when you thought things could get any _worse_ ," He turned to the Doctor and Christina. "The entire engine is filled with sand, we've only been here for like five minutes."

Christina walked around to where Barclay and Nathan were working on the wheels. "Anyone know mechanics?" She asked.

"Me!" Barclay stood, brushing sand off his knees. "I did a two week NVQ at the garage. Never finished it, but…"

That was enough for the Doctor. "Off you go then, try stripping the air filters, fast as you can. Back in two ticks."

The Doctor headed towards the dunes as Barclay went to look at the engine. "Wait a minute!" Christina and Daniel called, following the Doctor. "You're the man with all the answers. I'm not letting you out of my sights." Christina continued, speaking on behalf of Daniel also.

~DW~

The trio walked through the desert, the Doctor and Daniel were just ahead of Christina. "I never got to ask you," The Doctor suddenly said, causing Daniel to look at him confused. "What you've got waiting back for you on Earth."

Thanks to the sunglasses he wore, the Doctor missed the emotion that flashed in Daniel's eye. "I've got nothing," Daniel confessed as they walked, letting out a long sigh. "Used to live with my nan, but she died a year ago and I've been alone ever since," He shrugged, it didn't bother him to speak about it but he often jumped around the question. "Used to be my great granddad too, he used to drive busses after the war," Daniel scoffed as the Doctor gave him a sad look. "I don't want your sympathy Doctor, they died human and that's all that matters to me."

The Doctor wanted to ask him what he meant by to die human but he knew what it implied, Daniel had lost someone to something alien, but knew it would only open old wounds and could possibly distract them from saving the bus. Maybe it would best to ask him in the TARDIS once this was all over.

The Doctor stopped in his walking. No. He wouldn't take Daniel with him, he had made a promise to himself that he wouldn't take on another companion not after Donna. The memory of Donna was still fresh in his mind… it kept him up on some nights, he wouldn't want something like that to happen to Daniel or even Christina. "Are you alright?" Daniel asked, turning to look at the Doctor.

The Doctor nodded, continuing in their walk until they were out of sight of the bus. "Easier if you left that backpack behind." The Doctor suggested, looking at Christina who walked beside him.

"Where I go, it goes." She replied.

"A backpack with a spade and an axe," Daniel also commented, giving her a warning look over the top of his glasses. "Christina, who plans on going so far away and yet scared by the sound of a siren… who are you?"

Christina was taken back by Daniel asking the question. "You asking me? Let's just say that we three are equal mysteries." Christina countered, she truly didn't know anything or seemed to grasp at anything about Daniel and the Doctor.

"We'd make quite the group." The Doctor suggested, joking.

"We don't make any sort of group, thank you very much," She joked back. "Come on then. Tell me. If Carmen's right, if that Wormhole's not an accident, then what is it? Has someone done this on purpose?"

They stopped walking and just over the dune they stood on they could make out the bus. "I don't know," the Doctor confessed. "But every single instinct of mine is telling me to get off this planet, right now."

"And do you think we can?" Daniel asked.

"I live in hope." He grinned and Daniel shook his head.

"That must be nice. It's Christina de Souza," she held out her hands for both Daniel and the Doctor to shake. "To be precise, Lady Christina de Souza."

Daniel looked impressed and jokingly bowed, not believing her. "And I'm Lord Daniel Andrew of the Young Estates," Upon seeing that she was being serious he blushed. "You weren't joking… were you?"

Christina laughed. "You're lucky you're cute." She informed him, tapping him on the forehead lightly.

The Doctor smiled at the interaction. "That's handy. Cos I'm a Lord."

"Seriously?" Christina and Daniel asked. "The Lord of where?" She carried on.

"It's quite a big estate."

"No, but there's something more about you," Daniel spoke up, eying him. "The device you were carrying, and the wormhole. Like you knew. And the way you stride around this place, like…" He trailed off, trying to find the right word.

"Like?"

"Like you're not hum…"

"Anyway!" He cut him off, sending him a wink to show Daniel that he was right. "Come on! Allons-y." He continued on.

"Oui, mais pas si nous allons vers un chauchemar." Christina replied, her French fluent and clear.

Daniel laughed. "Do you two want a moment alone? You've got a whole desert to pick your spot."

They stopped once again and looked at the horizon. "Ah. Don't like the look of that." The Doctor frowned.

"Storm clouds," Christina shrugged, shading her eyes. "Must be hundreds of miles away."

"And getting closer."

"If that's a sand storm, we'll get ripped to shreds." Daniel stated, frowning.

"It's a storm. Who says it's _sand_?"

And with that suggestion they turned and ran back to the bus.

~DW~

"Barclay! Where's your phone?" The Doctor yelled as he ran down a sand dune, Christina and Daniel following close behind.

The boy in question poked his head around from where he had been working on the engine and frowned. "In the bus." He shrugged, closing the hatch to join the Doctor as he ran inside.

"Where is it?"

"There, there on the seat."

Daniel and Christina entered the bus, watching in confusion as the Doctor picked up Barclay's phone and flashed the sonic screwdriver on it. "You're hardly going to get a signal, we're on another planet!" Daniel sarcastically remarked, shaking his head.

"Oh, just you watch me," The Doctor flashed him a grin. "Right, now, bit of hush thank you. Gotta remember the number, very important number." They watched as the Doctor dialled in a number.

"Hello, Pizza Geronimo?" A man answered.

Daniel opened his mouth to comment but the Doctor help up a hand in his direction, hanging up. "And again! Ah! Seven-six, not six-seven…"

"This is the Unified Intelligence Taskforce. Please select one of the following four options." An automated message answered.

"Oh, I hate these things!" The Doctor groaned.

"No, if you keep your finger pressed on zero, you get through to a real person," Angela mentioned, offering a small shrug at the questioning looks everyone gave her. "I saw it on Watchdog!"

The Doctor grinned. "Thank you Angela." He did as he was informed and sure enough her advice worked as a female voice spoke up.

"UNIT helpline, which department would you like?" The woman asked.

"This is the Doctor! It's me!"

"Please wait while I transfer your call." The woman's voice disappeared and was replaced with some pop styled music.

"They put me on hold." The Doctor muttered, looking at the phone.

A few moments passed with the hold music being played on loud speaker, it was oddly relaxing as they had something to distract them from the silence of the desert.

"Doctor. This is Captain Erisa Magambo," the woman introduced herself and there was a slight ruffle of fabric as if she had moved her arm suddenly. "Might I say, sir, it's an honour."

The Doctor frowned, however was slightly amused by the sudden thought. "Did you just salute?" He had to ask.

It was silent for a moment before she spoke. "… No."

"Erisa, it's about the bus. HQ said you're at the tunnel, yeah?"

"And where are you?"

"I'm on the bus. But apart from that, not a clue," the Doctor looked out the window. "Except it's very pretty and pretty dangerous."

"A body came through here," everyone in the bus let out a breath at the reminded of the bus driver. "Have you sustained any more fatalities?"

"No, and we're not going to," the Doctor replied, his voice firm. "But I'm stuck, I haven't got the TARDIS and I need to analyse that wormhole."

"We have a scientific advisor on site, Dr Malcolm Taylor," Erisa informed and it sounded like she began to move. "Just the man you need, he's a genius."

"Oh, is he?" the Doctor rolled his eyes at the suggestion. "We'll see about that."

"Here's the Doctor." Erisa's voice came through a bit muffled, almost as if she was holding the phone away from herself.

"No, I'm all right now, thanks," A man replied, his voice clearer to them then Erisa's had been but only slightly. "It was just a bit of a sore throat, although I've got to be honest, a cup of tea might be nice."

"It's THE Doctor."

"Do you mean… 'the Doctor' Doctor?!"

"I know. We all want to meet him one day, but we all know what that day will bring."

Daniel frowned at that. The way that she spoke of meeting him sounded slightly concerning, compared to the way the man sounded just at the mention of the Doctor, it was as if this woman knew his past and what it held if they were to _ever_ meet. The Doctor… was he as good as he appeared? Or would becoming involved with him be their downfall.

"I can hear everything you're saying." The Doctor chimed, pulling Daniel out of his thoughts.

"Hello, Doctor? Oh, my goodness!" The man called, sounding like he couldn't believe it truly was him.

"Yes, I am. Hello, Malcolm!"

"The Doctor! Cor blimey. I can't believe I'm actually speaking to you! I mean, I've read all the files!"

"Really? What was your favourite, the giant robot?" Daniel and Christina gave the Doctor a look. "No, no hold on, let's sort out that wormhole."

The Doctor made his way to the front of the bus, sitting in the driver's seat as Daniel stood behind him, listening. "Giant robot?" Daniel had to ask.

"Long story," He waved it off. "Malcolm, something's not making sense here. I've got a storm and a wormhole, and I can't help thinking there's a connection. I need a complete full-range analysis of that wormhole, the whole thing."

"I've probably got the wrong idea, but I've wired up an integrator. I thought it could measure the energy signature." Malcolm began.

"No that'll never work," The Doctor stated. "Just listen to me…"

"It's quite extraordinary, though!" He continued, not seeming to be fazed by the Doctor dismissing his idea. "I'm measuring an oscillation of 15 Malcolms per second."

"Fifteen what?"

"Fifteen Malcolms. It's my own little term," He explained. "A wavelength parcel of ten kilohertz operating in four dimensions equals one Malcolm."

"He named a unit of measurement after himself?" Daniel asked, apparently loud enough for Malcolm to hear.

"It didn't do Mr Watt any harm," Malcolm defended. "Furthermore, 100 Malcolms equals a Bernard."

"And who's that, your dad?" Daniel questioned, joking.

"Don't be ridiculous, that's Quatermass."

The Doctor groaned. "Right. Fine. But before I die of old age, which in my case would be quite an achievement, so congratulations on that, is there anyone else I can talk to?"

"No, no, no, no, but listen! I set the scanner to register what it can't detect and inverted the image."

"You did what?" The Doctor asked, surprised.

"Is that wrong?"

"No Malcolm, that's brilliant! So you can actually measure the wormhole," the Doctor assured him. "OK, I admit, that is genius!"

"The Doctor called me a genius." Malcolm gushed.

"I know, I heard." Erisa dryly remarked.

"Now, run a capacity scan. I need a full report. Call me back when you've gone it. And Malcolm? You're my new best friend."

"And you're mine too, sir." Malcolm said.

The Doctor hung up. "Barclay, I'm holding on to this." He pocketed the phone before walking out the door.

"Then you'd better bring it back!" Barclay called, watching as Daniel, Christina and the Doctor left the bus.

~DW~

The trio walked back the way they had originally come and stopped on the hill they been on. "Send this back to Earth, see if Malcolm can analyse the storm." The Doctor said, holding up the phone.

"There's something in those clouds, something shining. It looks…" Daniel squinted as the storm began to shine as the suns hit it.

"Like metal." The Doctor finished for him, taking a picture.

"Why would there be there be metal in a storm?" Christina asked before looking around as clicking reached her. "Did you hear something?"

"Hold on. Busy." The Doctor continued to take pictures.

Daniel frowned and looked around, the clicking sound reaching him now. "There's a noise," Christina nodded, thankful that someone heard it too. "Sounds like a…" He trailed off and backs into the Doctor accidentally. "Doctor."

Christina's eyes widened as she too spotted the creature. It was human in body but with what Daniel could only describe as a fly's head, it approached them with a weapon in its hand and speaks. The Doctor answers in its language clicking and chirping. "That's 'wait'. I shout 'wait', people usually wait." He translated for the humans.

"You speak the language?" Daniel and Christina questioned.

"Every language," He confirmed before continuing to speak with the creature. "That's begging for mercy."

It motions with its gun, they raised their hands. "That means 'move'." Christina remarked, rolling her eyes.

"Ooh! You're learning."

The creature marched them off in front of it, directing them through the sand dunes. "These fly things, they must be responsible. They brought us here." Christina suggested, seeing as this had been the first sign of life they had encountered since being on the planet.

They arrived at a crashed ship, they assumed it was the creatures ship. "No, no, no, no, no! Look at the ship, it's a wreck. They crashed, just like us." The Doctor answered, stepping inside.

~DW~

The interior of the ship looks like they have been trying to make repairs with wires and electronics. Daniel let out a sigh of relief as the ships temperature was much colder then the desert. "But this place is freezing!" Christina looked over at Daniel, hearing his sigh of relief.

"The hull's made of Photafine steel. Turns cold when it's hot," The Doctor explained. "Boiling desert outside, freezing ship inside. Since I've met you two, we've been through all the extremes!"

"That's how I like things. Extreme." She winked.

Turning his attention to the ship around him, he began to gush. "Oh, this is beautiful! Intact, it must have been magnificent. A proper streamlined deep-spacer!"

"I'll remember that as I'm being slowly tortured," Daniel remarked, giving the Doctor an unamused look. "At least I'm bleeding on the floor of a really well-designed _spaceship_!"

A second creature joined them and touched a device attached to his clothes. "Oh, right, good, yes, hello!" He gave them a wave while Daniel and Christina offered the creatures a small smile. "That's a telepathic translator. He can understand us."

"Still sounds like gibberish to me." Christina commented, looking at the Doctor.

"That what I said, he can understand us. Doesn't work the other way around," The creature began to communicate and the Doctor began to translate for them. "'You will suffer for you crimes.' Et cetera. 'You have committed an act of violence against the Tritovore race. Tritovores, they're called Tritovores. 'You came here in the 200 to destroy us.' Sorry, what's the 200?"

They thought about it for a moment before Daniel informed them, a smile on his face as he turned to look at the Tritovores. "It's the bus. Number 200, they mean the bus. We're stuck here like you guys are."

"I think you've made the same mistake Christina did. I'm the Doctor, by the way, this is Christina, the Honourable Lady Christina, at least I hope she's honourable! And that young man is Daniel Young, and he's right, we got pulled through that wormhole. The 200 doesn't look like that normally, it's broken, just the same as you." The Doctor assured them.

The Tritovores spoke to each other and a moment later, they lowered their guns. "What are they doing?" Christina asked, apprehensive.

"They believe us."

"What, as simple as that?"

"I've got a very honest face and Daniel's got a charming smile," Daniel rolled his eyes at the compliment. "And the translator says I'm telling the truth. Plus the face and the smile. Right! So, first things first, there's a very strange storm heading our way, can you send out a probe?"

The Doctor made his way to a control panel, followed by the Tritovore with the translator who speaks with him. "Ah, they've lost power. Hmm, the crash knocked the mainline crystallography out of synch. But if I can jiggle it back…" He kicked a panel and the power came back on. "I thank you!," The Tritovore clicked and chirped. "Yes, I am! Frequently. Okey-doke, let's launch that probe."

Pulling a lever, the probe was launched, and after some fiddling with the control panel the Doctor brought up an image onto a holographic screen. "The Scorpion Nebula," The Doctor informed them, Daniel walked to the other side of the screen his eyes filled with wonder. "On the other side of the Universe, just what you wanted Christina, so far away," the image zoomed in until it showed another a planet. "The planet of San Helios."

"And that's us?" Christina breathed, awed by the image. "We're on another world."

"We have been for quite a while."

"I know, but seeing it like that…"

"It's good, isn't it?"

"It's beautiful." Daniel breathed from the other side, locking eyes with the Doctor as they smiled at each other.

The Tritovore began to click and chirp as it began to tell them the story of how they became trapped on San Helios. "The Tritovores were going to trade with San Helios. Population of one hundred billion… plenty of waste matter for them to absorb."

"By waste matter, you mean?" Christina didn't want to ask, having an idea, but she'd rather have it confirmed.

"They feed off what others leave behind. From their… behind, if you see what I mean," At the disgusted looks from Daniel and Christina, he began to defend. "It's perfectly natural. They are flies."

"Charming. Just remind me never to kiss them."

The projection now showed them a thriving city with trees and green parks. "San Helios City."

"That's amazing," Daniel breathed. "But you've seen things like this all the time, haven't you?"

"Thousands of times." The Doctor confirmed.

"That Lordship of yours… the Lord of where, exactly?" Christina asked, curious. She had heard Daniel earlier about to say something before being cut off and it seemed she now was understanding what he had been about to say.

"Of Time. I come from a race of people called the Time Lords."

"You're an alien?"

Yeah. But you don't have to kiss me either."

Daniel made his way around the screen and to his side. "You look human." He stated, looking up at him.

"You look Time Lord." Grinning down at Daniel, his grin softened. Christina cleared her throat, disrupting the moment. "Anyway!" They looked back at the screen at the same time.

Christina snickered to herself as she watched Daniel's cheeks turn red. "So if that's San Helios, all we need to do if find that city. They can help us!" Daniel said, focusing on the situation at hand.

"I don't think it's that simple," The projection changed to the desert. "We're in the city right no." The Doctor cleared his own throat as he too, focused on the projection.

"But it's sand!" Christina looked between the Tritovores. "That first image, the temples and things, what's that, then? Ancient history?"

One of the Tritovores chirped. "That image was taken last year." The Doctor translated.

"It became a desert in one year?"

The Doctor crouched down to take a handful of sand. "I said there was something in the sand," he let the sand fall through his fingers. "The city, the oceans, the mountains, the wildlife and 100 billion people, turned to sand. All those voices in Carmen's head… she's hearing them die."

Daniel gasped and Christina brushed a hand through her hair. "But I've got sand in my hair. That's dead people! Oh that's disgusting! Oh!"

"Something destroyed the whole of San Helios."

"Yes, but in my hair!"

The mobile rang and the Doctor pulled it from his pocket. "Malcolm! Tell me the bad news!"

"Oh, you are clever! It is bad news!" Malcolm informed. "It's the wormhole, Doctor, it's getting bigger! We've gone way past 100 Bernards; I haven't invented a name for that."

"How can it get bigger by itself?"

"Well, that's why I'm phoning! You'll work it out, if I know you, sir."

"Doctor, we estimate the circumference of your invisible wormhole is now four miles, heading upwards," Erisa spoke. "I've grounded all flights above London. We can't risk anyone else falling through."

"Good work, both of you."

"But I have to know," She continued. "Does that wormhole constitute a danger to this planet?"

The phone beeped and the Doctor looked at it. "Oh, sorry, call waiting, gotta go," He switched calls. "Yep?"

"Doctor, it's Nathan. We got those duckboard things down, but…" Nathan trailed off.

"It's my fault." Angela sobbed in the background.

"No, it's not, don't say that." Nathan assured her.

"Why, what's happened?" The Doctor asked, stepping away from Daniel and Christina.

"We kept on turning the engine, but… we're out of petrol. Used it all up," Nathan took a shaky breath. "Even if we can get those wheels out… this bus is never going to move."

The Doctor lowered the phone; Daniel looked at the Doctor concerned. "Doctor, tell me, what did he say?" He asked, crossing his arms at the Doctor's silence.

"You promised you'd get us home. Doctor? Are you still there?" Nathan continued.

"Doctor, tell me, what did he say?" Daniel asked again.

A beep came from one of the monitors and the Tritovores chirped excitedly. "It's the probe," The Doctor said once he hung up the call. "It's reached the storm."

"And what's he saying?" Christina asked.

"It's not a storm."

The image from the probe came up on the screen showing them a mass of creatures that looked like stingrays with metal plating. "It's a swarm. Millions of them." Christina suggested, her eyes wide.

"Billions." The Doctor corrected, they watched as one of the creatures flew straight at the probe, opening its mouth to show its sharp teeth. The connection is lost. "Ah! We've lost the probe. I think it got eaten. Everything on this planet gets eaten."

"How far away is that swarm?" Daniel asked.

"Hundred miles. But at that speed, it'll be here in twenty minutes," the Tritovore chirped, fearful of the creatures. "No, they're not just coming for us. They want the wormhole."

"They're heading for Earth!" Daniel realised.

"Show the analysis," one of the Tritovores pulled up a 3D image of the creatures. "Incredible! They swarm out of a wormhole, strip the planet bare, then move on to the next world, start the life cycle again." The Doctor explained.

"So, they make the wormholes?" Christina asked.

"They must do."

"But how? They don't exactly like technicians. And if the wormhole belongs to them, why are they 100 miles away?"

"Because they need to be? No. That's bonkers," The Doctor frowned as he thought. "Hang on! Yes! Oh! Do you see? Billions of them, flying in formation, all around the planet, round and round and round, faster and faster and faster, till they generate a rupture in space! The speed of them, the numbers, and the size, all of that rips the wormhole into existence!"

"And the wormhole's getting bigger?"

"Because they're getting closer!"

"But how do they get through? Cos that wormhole's a killer, we've seen it!"

Daniel shook his head. "They'd be fine, their skin is made of metal allowing them pass through the wormhole without a problem." The Doctor looked impressed. "What? I pay attention."

"Those things are going to turn the _entire_ Earth into a desert. So why exactly are you smiling?" Christina asked, looking at the Doctor.

"Worse it gets, the more I love it!" He grinned back.

"Me too." The humans replied, laughing.

"The thing is, Doctor, you're missing the obvious," Upon the Doctor's questioning look, Christina continued. " _We_ came here through the wormhole, yes? But our Tritovore friends _didn't_. They came here to trade with San Helios. Therefore, the question is, why did they crash?"

"Ah, good question! What a team! Like she said, why did you crash?"

~DW~

One of the Tritovores led them into another room with a large hole in the floor. "Oh, yes. Gravity Well, look. Goes all the way down to the engine. So what happened?" The alien chirped as it explained. "He says the drive system stalled. Ten miles up, they fell out of the sky… but what caused that?"

The Tritovore shrugged. "That means 'no idea.'" Daniel joked.

"Yeah. But wait a minute, that's a crystal nucleus down there, yes?" The Tritovore nodded. "And it looks like it survived the crash. If the crystal's intact… Oh, yes, that's better than diesel!"

"What, you can use the crystal to move the bus?" Christina asked.

"I think so. The spaceship's a write-off, but the 200's small enough."

"In a super-clever outer-spacey way, just trust me!" He pulled some feed from a monitor, looking at a scan for the tunnel. "There's the crystal! It's fallen to the bottom of the well, have you got access shafts?" the Tritrovore answered his question. "All frozen? Maybe I can open them! Internal comms, put that on," He handed Daniel a Bluetooth-like device and ran for the door. "You both stay here, keep an eye on the shaft. Tell me if anything happens."

Once the Doctor had left the room, Christina removed her and sat at the edge of the well, a smile crossing her face. "What are you planning?" Daniel asked, turning on the device.

She only grinned.

~DW~

The Doctor rushed to a bank of machinery. "If I can use that sunlight to start the automatic maintenance, Daniel," He pulled out some cables. "If you see a panel opening in that shaft let me know."

Back at the Gravity Well, Daniel watched as Christina began to gear up. "Nothing yet." He replied, assist her in strapping on her harness.

"Anything now?" the Doctor connected some cables.

"Nothing yet."

"Any sign of movement?"

"Nothing, are actually doing something or is this a test?"

"No, I am doing something! How about now?"

"No there's still nothing."

"Any result?"

Daniel sighed, watching as Christina set up a wire cable and winch attaching herself to it. "Remind me, is it the crystal we need," the Doctor mumbled out a yes and Daniel nodded to Christina. "Then I'd say we've got it under control."

Christina pulled the last time from her pack, a small torch and attached it to the Velcro of her harness. "Why, what d'you mean? Daniel? Daniel!" The Doctor ran into the Well room.

"You're crazy, you know that right." Daniel commented, handing the comm. to her and she winked at him.

Just as the Doctor entered, Christina swan dived into the well. "No!" He turned to face Daniel. "Why didn't you stop her?!"

"What was I suppose to do? You wanted the crystal, what better way then to get it mission impossible style." Daniel rolled his eyes.

The Doctor got to work using the sonic on the pulley. "I take offence to that Daniel." Christina's voice sounded through the comm.

The pulley went red as it caused Christina to stop. "That's better."

"I decide when I stop, thank you."

"You're about to hit the security gird. Look!" Peering over the edge, they spotted the field of crackling energy.

"Excellent. So what do I do?"

"Try the big red button."

Christina pushed the button directly in front of her, the field shutting off. "Well done!"

"Now come back up! I can do that."

"Oh, don't you wish?"

"Slowly!"

"Yes, sir." She continued to go down, head-first this time.

"Quite the mystery, aren't you? Lady Christina de Souza. Carrying a winch in her bag."

The Doctor sat on the edge of the well, his back to it while Daniel looked at a looked to be security monitor. "Doctor, could you fix this?" Daniel asked, pointing at the screen.

The Doctor obliged, flashing the sonic at it as a schematic of the Well flashed on his screen it showed a red flashing dot that was meant to be Christina. "No stranger then you, spaceman." Christina countered.

"I had this friend, once. She called me spaceman." The Doctor reminisced, thinking back to the feisty ginger he had travelled with.

"And was she right? Do you zoom about the place in a rocket?"

"Well, a little blue box. Travels in more than space. It can journey through time, Christina," Daniel looked over at him, a sad smile as he thought about all the things he could do with a time machine. "Oh, the places I've been. World War One. Creation of the Universe, end of the universe, the war between China and Japan," the Doctor looked into her bag and saw a chalice. "And the Court of King Athelstan, in 924 AD, but I don't remember you being there, so what are you doing with this?" He pulled out the chalice, turning it in his hands.

"Excuse me. A gentleman never goes through a lady's possessions."

Daniel stepped away from the monitor to look at the chalice about to ask what it was, but it seemed the Tritovore asked a similar question as the Doctor went on to explain. "It's the Cup of Athelstan. Given to the first King of Britain, as a coronation gift from Hywel, King of the Welsh. But it's been held in the international Gallery for 200 years, which makes you, Lady Christina, a thief."

Christina waved it off. "I like to think I liberated it."

"Don't tell me you need the money."

"Daddy lost everything. Invested his fortune in the Icelandic banks."

"No, no, no, if you're short of cash, you rob a bank. Stealing this, that's a lifestyle."

"I take it you disapprove?"

"Absolutely. Except, that little blue box. I stole it… from my own people."

"Well aren't you both didn't fall too far from the apple tree then did you?" Daniel commented.

"What and you've never stole anything?" She asked.

"Probably a bunch of pens from high school and that was on accident."

"Well aren't you a good boy, you can give us an earful when we steal again," Before Daniel could reply there was a loud screech from the lower levels of the ship. "What the blazes was that?"

Daniel rushed to the security monitor and his eyes widened, seeing a new red light sat still near the end of the Gravity Well. "Doctor! Look at this!" He called him over, the Tritovore following.

"We never did find out why the ship crashed," Upon seeing the new red blip, his concern grew. "Christina, I think you should come back up."

"Too late. I can see it." She answered, slightly fearful at the idea there was something lurking with her.

"Careful… slowly," the Doctor looked at the Tritovore. "Have you got an open-vent system?" the alien answered and even Daniel knew that it meant yes. "I thought so."

"It's like when birds fly into the engines of an aircraft."

"One of the creatures." Christina gasped.

"Got trapped in the vents, caused the crash," He rushed over to the Well. "Christina, get out."

"It's not moving, I think it's injured."

"No, it's dormant, because it's so cold down there. But your body heat is raising the temperature."

"I tend to have that effect. Almost there."

"Not just the crystal. I need the while bed, the plate thing."

A moment later she yelled up at them. I've got it!"

The Doctor used the sonic on the winch. "Come on, come on!" Daniel peered over and could spot the creature slamming itself against the Well as it chased her. "Come on, come on, come on, come on! It's gonna eat its way up!" The comm. picked up the creature shrieking in pain as it hit the field. "Oh, she's good!"

The moment Christina was up, Daniel pulled her over the side while the Doctor took the crystal and its couplings. "I've got you, I've got you!" He began to release her from her harness at record speed.

The Tritovore took the crystal from the Doctor and speaks to him. "Aren't they just."

They ran back into the control room where the other Tritovore stood by the controls. "Commander! Mission complete! Now we've got to get back to the 200, all of us," the commander clicked and chirped his reply, causing the Doctor to groan. "Oh, don't be daft! A captain can leave his ship if there's a bus standing by."

There was a rumbling from within the ship. "What the hell was that? Is this place safe? It's the creature. It's not dead." Christina looked around, ready for the creature to pop out.

"Maybe you didn't hit just one of them. If you hit a swarm…" The Doctor trailed off.

Daniel looked around the ship, fearful. "You mean there are _more_ then one on board?"

"This ship's built inside a metal sleeve. They can move through the infrastructure, all around us," The creature slammed against a wall. "And they wake up hungry. Commander, you've got to come with us, right now!"

"You can come back to Earth, the Doctor has a ship he'll find you a home!" Daniel smiled, holding out a hand for the alien to take.

He wasn't sure were this confidence was coming from. In the last hour they'd spent trapped on this planet, with all the running and dangers it was almost like everything Daniel thought he knew about himself was changing as this new version of himself began to emerge. He assumed it was because the Doctor just had this affect on the people around him, he didn't seem to mind Daniel offering the aliens that they'd be found a new home.

"Look at that smile! Can't say no to that!" The Doctor commented.

One of the Tritovores moved to Daniel's open hand about to take it with his claw. But as the second turned to follow, one of the creatures dropped through the ceiling and devoured it. The last Tritovore takes out its gun and prepared to shoot. "No, don't!" The Tritovore advanced but was devoured by the creature, the Doctor pulled Daniel back slightly. "There's nothing we can do. Run!"

The trio ran through the corridors of the ship until the reached the desert as they continued their run from the swarm. The phone in the Doctor's pocket began to ring and seeing that his hands were full with the crystal and the base plate, Daniel answered it. "Doctor…" Malcolm began to say.

"Sorry Malcolm!" Daniel shouted into the phone before hanging up.

They reached the bus. Nathan and Barclay stood at the door. "At last! Where've you been?!" Nathan asked.

"Get inside, get them sitting down," the two boys did as the Doctor asked, taking a seat themselves. "Now then, let's have a look." The Doctor held the crystal, Christina beside him as Daniel stood in the doorway.

"So what does that crystal do?" Christina asked, curious about what her newest steal could do.

Much to her surprise, he threw it over his shoulder. "Oh, nothing, don't need the crystal."

"I risked my life for that!" She cried, looking at the discarded crystal.

"No, no, you risked your life for these," the Doctor unhooked one of the clamps. "The clamps! One there," He placed one on the driver's side front tire. "One there," again on the rear tire. "One there," again on the other rear tire. "One there," this time it was placed on the front tire before he stepped inside. "And one there!"

"But what are the clamps for? Do they turn the wheels?"

"Something like that," He sat in the driver's seat, placing the final clamp on the steering wheel. "I just need to fix this. Have you got a hammer in that bag?"

She pulled a hammer from her bag. "Funnily enough."

"Phone, phone…" Daniel held the phone up, expecting him to take it. "Press redial." Doing as he was asked, the Doctor began to hook the final clamp to the steering wheel when Daniel pressed the phone to the Doctor's ear. "Malcolm, it's me!"

"I'm ready!" Malcolm answered, ready for the Doctor to give him instructions.

"Ready for what?"

"I don't know! You tell me!"

"I'll try to get back. There might be something following us, you need to find a way to close the wormhole."

"Would that be compressed burst of feedback on a counter-oscillation perchance?"

"Oh, Malcolm! You're brilliant!"

"Coming from you, sir, that means the world."

"Doctor, what sort of something?" Erisa asked, concerned. "That wormhole is now measuring then miles and growing, I need to know the exact nature of the threat."

The Doctor was silent for a moment. "Sorry, gotta go." He nodded at Daniel, who ended the call.

The Doctor continued to work on the steering wheel. It sparked. "Ah, it's not compatible! Bus, spaceship, spaceship, bus. I need to weld the two systems together."

"And how do you do that?" Christina asked.

"I need something non-corrosive, something malleable, something ductile, something…" He looked at Christina. "Gold."

Immediately Christina knew what he was suggesting. "Oh, no you don't."

"What is worth more, one chalice or the life of everyone on the bus." Daniel suggested, his voice hushed.

Before she could answer, Barclay came forward offering his watch. "Hey, use this!"

"I said hold." The Doctor deadpanned.

"It _is_ gold." He insisted.

"Oh, they saw you coming. Christina!"

Barclay headed back to his seat, Daniel patting him on the shoulder as he passed. Christina looked at her bag and then back at the passengers, Daniel's words sticking with him, before taking out the cup and held it out to the Doctor. "It's over 1,000 years old. Worth £18 million. Promise me you'll be careful."

The Doctor took the cup gingerly. "I promise." he then proceeded to turn the cup upside down and bang it with the hammer.

Christina watched in horror as the chalice began to go out of shape. "I hate you."

He grinned and Daniel rubbed her arm. "This is your driver speaking!" The Doctor yelled, setting the battered chalice into place. "Hold on tight!"

"What for? What's he doing?" Barclay asked from his seat.

"Do as he says!" Daniel yelled back before leaning into the Doctor. "What are you doing?"

"Come on, that's it… you can do it, you beauty! One last trip!" The Doctor muttered to himself, coaxing the engine.

The bus sputtered and rattled as the clamps began to do its job. It then rises from the sand and the passengers in the back made sounds of astonishment. "Ah, you are so kidding me!" Barclay exclaimed, looking out the window.

"We're flying! It's flying!" Nathan cheered.

"He's flying the bus!" Lou laughed.

"It's a miracle!" Angela breathed.

"Anti-gravity clamps. Didn't I say? Round we go." The Doctor grinned.

Turning the bus away from the oncoming swarm, allowing the passengers to get a clear view of the stingrays heading directly for them. "Doctor! They're coming!" Carmen informed.

The Doctor and Daniel looked out of the side-view mirrors. "Do you think this thing will survive the journey back?" Daniel had to ask, however there was a excited grin plastered his face.

"Only one way to find out! Next stop…" He grinned.

"Planet Earth!" Daniel yelled.

Everyone held on tight and cheered as the Doctor propelled the bus through the wormhole. In the same way as it had been upon entering the wormhole, the interior of the bus was filled with a bright white light before emerging in London and flew over the head of the UNIT taskforce positioned outside and up into the night sky.

"It's London!" Barclay yelled.

"We're back home!" Angela cheered.

"They did it!" Nathan also cheered, looking at the Doctor, Daniel and Christina. "They did it!"

The Doctor took the phone from Daniel and redialled. "Malcolm! Close that wormhole!"

"Yes sir! My pleasure, sir!" Malcolm answered before hanging up the phone.

"He hung up on me!" He looked at Daniel, who just laughed, before redialling again. "Malcolm?"

"Not now, I'm busy." Once again the man hung up on the Doctor.

"He's hung up again!" Once again he redialled. "Malcolm! Listen to me!"

"It's not working!"

"We need that signal. We've got billions of those things about to fly through!"

"Well, what do I do?"

"Loop it back through the integrator, and keep the signal ramping up."

"But by how much?"

"500 Bernards! Do it now!"

All the Doctor could hear was the sound of keys being pressed before Malcolm spoke. "Yes!"

The wormhole closed and the UNIT soldiers continued to fire at there only three creatures as they flew overhead. "Doctor, it's coming for us!" Nathan called as one of the creatures headed for the open window, but swerved away like it's playing with them.

"Oh, no, you don't!" The Doctor swerved the bus and smacked the creature away.

Daniel laughed and threw himself at the Doctor, pulling the man into a side hug. "If this is what its gonna be like with you around, I'm _never_ gonna leave you." He said, Christina just watching them with a pout.

She was going to kiss him as she had joked about with the Tritovores but Daniel had unknowingly gotten in her way but as she watched them, she smiled. She couldn't wait to see how long it would take before Daniel owned the Doctor's heart. So she joined in with the cheers and hugs that the passengers were giving one another.

Pulling away from the Doctor, he could only grin at Daniel. "Do not stand forward of this point. Ladies and gentlemen, you have reached your final destination. Welcome home, the mighty _200_."

The UNIT soldiers watched as the bus came in for a landing, the bell ringing. The moment it touched down safely, they began to applaud. The Doctor opened the bus door with the sonic screwdriver, everyone gathered their belonging and puts their jackets back on as the crisp London air made them shiver.

A soldier greeted the passengers as they got off the bus. "Welcome back, if you could step away from the bus to be safe. As fast as you can. It's standard procedure," The solider offered them all a smile. "We need to screen you and then you'll all be taken to debriefing."

The Doctor held up the psychic paper. "I don't count."

Daniel frowned, about to follow him. "No, but Doctor…"

The soldier took his arm lightly, but strong enough for Daniel to not break free. "With me, sir." With a final look over at the Doctor, who didn't look back at him, he allowed himself to be dragged away.

The Doctor headed towards a professional woman wearing a beret, who he assumed was Erisa, but was intercepted by a short man with a scarf and glasses. "Doctor!" he called, his voice sounded familiar so it wasn't hard to place a finger on _where_ he heard that voice.

"You must be Malcolm!"

Malcolm pulled the Doctor into a large hug. "Oh! Oh, I love you," he ended the hug. "I love you, I love you."

"To your station, Doctor Taylor." Erisa commanded as she stepped over to the two.

"Yes, ma'am," Malcolm headed back to the lab but turned to point at the Doctor. "I love you!" He once again yelled and the Doctor pointed back with a smile and Malcolm continued on.

"Doctor," Erisa saluted and the Doctor grimaced. "I salute you, whether you like it or not. Now, I take it we're safe from those things?"

"They'll start again, generate a new doorway," He confessed. "It's not their fault, it's their natural life cycle. But I'll see if I can nudge the wormholes on to uninhabited planets," he looked over at the humans being scanned. "Closer to home, Captain, those two lads," He pointed over to Nathan and Barclay, who were chatting to one another. "Very good in a crisis. Nathan needs a job, Barclay's good with engines. You could do a lot worse. Privates Nathan and Barclay, UNIT's finest."

"I'll see what I can do," she nodded, aware that Daniel was watching them as he held his arms aside to be scanned with a Geiger counter. "And I've got something for you."

A tarp is dropped to reveal the TARDIS, the Doctor laughed and walked over to it. "Better then a bus, any day! Hello!" He greeted the box.

"Found in the gardens of Buckingham Palace." Erisa sent him a look.

"Oh, she doesn't mind."

"Now, I've got three dead alien stingrays to clean up. I don't suppose you fancy helping with the paperwork?"

"Not a chance!"

"Till we meet again, Doctor."

"I hope so."

They shook hands and Erisa walked away. Angela called her daughter as she stood beside Nathan. "I said I'm back, Suzanne, I'm home!" she laughed at the confused reaction her daughter gave her before turning to Nathan. "They didn't even know I was gone!"

The Geiger counter monitoring Daniel beeped loudly but he's had enough. "I was on an alien planet, I'm gonna go off like a bloody power plant." He pushed past the soldier, unable to stop him as he ran to the Doctor. "Little blue box! Just like you said!" Daniel laughed as he leaned against the TARDIS.

The Doctor smiled to himself as he heard the box chime inside of its approval of Daniel… but there was the problem of his promise to himself about travelling alone. Despite Daniel having what the qualities of a companion, he didn't want him to suffer a fate similar to Donna or worse like Rose. Two companions he cared about so _deeply_ that their departure left him broken but as he thought about Donna the words she had said to him all those years ago…

 _~DW~_

 _Donna Noble stood before the TARDIS, her wedding dress drenched and ruined, watching as it began to dematerialised and she realised that she was never going to see him again. "Doctor! Doctor!" Donna yelled, not caring if the entire neighbourhood would hear her._

 _The engines stopped and the Doctor popped his head outside the door. "Blimey, you can shout." He joked._

 _"Am I ever gonna see you again?" She had to ask, hopeful that she would see the Martian ever again._

 _"If I'm lucky." He assured._

 _"Just… promise me one thing," Upon his questioning look, Donna continued. "Find someone."_

 _The Doctor's back straightened and his face dropped. "I don't need anyone." He wanted_ Rose _and with all the pain and sadness he was feeling there was no way he'd take another companion on. He wouldn't allow himself to get_ that _connected to a human when they could in fact leave or worse._

 _"Yes, you do," Donna countered, a soft smile on her face. "Because sometimes, I think you need someone to stop you."_

 _~DW~_

Donna had been right. She was always right, even if she didn't know, she was right. Daniel Young, the boy who smile could charm an empire, was perfect to join him but even in the hour they had known each other he cared for him… and it worried him. He could already picture Daniel leaving the TARDIS by his own choice after an adventure that had proved too much for him or worse as Daniel had remained trapped on an alien ship with no sign of the Doctor to save him.

But he wouldn't allow that to happen and he smiled down at Daniel, about to open the TARDIS for him to enter when Christina ran up to them. "Right then, off we go! Come on, Doctor, show me the stars!" She grinned up, anxiously looking around at the many police officers.

"No." He replied, his voice hardened.

"What?"

"I said no."

"But I saved your life and Daniel's life. And you saved mine."

"So?"

"We're surrounded by police. I'll go to prison."

"Yeah."

Christina let out a sigh, looking the Doctor in the eyes. "But you were right, it's not about the money. I only steal things for the adventure, and today, with you… I want more days like this, I want every day to be like this. We're made for each other, you said so yourself. The three musketeers… why not?"

It was the Doctor's turn to sigh. "People have travelled with me and I've lost them, lost them all. Never again." He missed the look Daniel gave him but Christina caught it.

Why wasn't she surprised that Daniel had been the one to be offered a spot by the Doctor's side as they travelled the stars. The boy had been open to helping the Tritovores back in San Helios, even brokering a peace between them just by speaking to them like they weren't aliens, she could have imagined herself keeping the aliens at a distance as she would have been sure that they would turn on her and the Doctor the instant they made a discovery. Maybe she would never get the answer to this question.

A man dressed in a light brown coat approached them with a handful of uniformed officers. "Lady Christina de Souza! Oh, I have waited a long time to say this. I am arresting you on suspicion of theft," A officer cuffed her with her hands behind her back. "You don't have to say anything, etcetera, etcetera. Dennison, take her away."

The Doctor does noting as she is led away, Christina just looks at him over her shoulder as she escorted away. Carmen and Lou came over to Daniel and the Doctor, offering them a smile. "Doctor? You take care, now." Carmen said.

"You too! Chops and gravy, lovely!" He smiled back.

"No, but you be careful. Because your song is ending, sir."

His smile disappeared. "What do you mean?"

Daniel looked at the Doctor in concern and then back at Carmen. "It is returning. It is returning through the dark. And then, Doctor… oh, but then… he will knock four times."

Carmen then turned to Daniel. "And you, oh so young, will rise from the ashes like a phoenix would and I'm sorry, so sorry but your heart will break."

Carmen and Lou turned to leave as the Doctor and Daniel stared ahead, trying to process what had been said. "You know," Daniel's shaky voice pulled the Doctor out of his thoughts. "Christina does have a point, she did save _our_ lives… maybe we could save hers."

The Doctor offered him a small smile as he points the sonic screwdriver at Christina, unlocking the handcuffs. As she was being placed into the car, sending the Doctor and Daniel a thankful look, as they watched as she scooted over the seats and ran for the bus. The two officers gave chase. "No! Stop that woman! Stop that woman!" He yelled, waving other officers down to assist him. "Stop her! Don't just stand there, stop her!" Once at the bus, Christina closed the door. "Open the door! I'll add resisting arrest!"

The Doctor sauntered up behind the officers. "I'd step back, if I were you." He suggested.

"I'm charging you too! Aiding and abetting!" The office rounded on him.

He only smiled. "Yes, I'll step inside this police box and arrest myself." He headed back to the TARDIS, Daniel leaning against the door with an amused smile.

"Am I going to have to escort you inside, sir?" Daniel jokingly asked as they watched the scene unfold.

"Out, now!" The man shouted, tapping the door with a walkie-talkie, but Christina waved and started up the bus. "No! Come back!" All he could do was watch helplessly as the bus took off.

Everyone who had been on the bus began to cheer and laugh. "Go on." Angela yelled up at the woman.

The Doctor made a move to open the TARDIS door when the bus stopped just above them, the door opening. "We could have been so good together." She called down to them.

"Christina. We were." The Doctor grinned.

Daniel gasped as he suddenly remembered something. "Before you go Christina, I left you a gift just under the first seat on the right," Christina and the Doctor gave him a confused look. "Try not to spend it all at once."

Christina could only smile and closed the door, flying off into the night sky as everyone cheered her on. The Doctor opened the TARDIS, stepping in with Daniel behind him.

~DW~

Standing by the doors, Daniel looked around in awe at the interior of the TARDIS before stepping outside, the Doctor smiled as he leant against the TARDIS console as he waited for Daniel to enter and say those famous words. "It's bigger on the inside." Daniel breathed as he re-entered the TARDIS.

"One trip," the Doctor said from his spot at the console. "One trip through out all of time and space, where do you wanna go?" Daniel walked towards the console.

Daniel could only smile. "Surprise me."

And with that, the Doctor began to run around the console flicking switches as Daniel watched as the room filled with a wheezing sound that could have bothered him but instead it filled him with excitement.

A/N: And so begins the adventures of Daniel and the Doctor. Up next will be a short chapter set during the Wedding of Sarah Jane Smith, until next time. I've been Landing and this is To Own His Hearts.


	2. Daniel in the TARDIS

A/N: Okay, wow. Thank you to everyone who reviewed and has followed and added it to its favourites. This story _will_ be updated every Monday.

The original chapters will be posted Friday's or Saturdays, so you can expect a chapter a week.

This chapter is mostly told from Daniel's point of view, so he misses the majority of the Wedding of Sarah Jane Smith but instead see what happens inside the TARDIS. I understand if this isn't as good as episode chapters, but I wanted to test the waters a bit.

Disclaimer: See _Planet of the Dead_

Breaking the Rules – Daniel in the TARDIS

~DW~

Daniel held onto the console as the Doctor ran around him, watching the rotor in the center of console move like some sort of piston you'd see on a train. "So is this what you do for a living?" Daniel asked. "You go travelling through time and space, saving humans from things they couldn't imagine."

"I suppose I end up in the wrong place at the right time," the Doctor shrugged, pulling a lever. "I know you surprise me but where do you want a surprise? Alien planet? Earth? _New_ Earth, now that one was fun."

"I think I could do with a shower first," Daniel admitted, the shirt he was wearing felt damp from sweat and despite the TARDIS being cool… he smelled. "But by the time I'm out, I expect something _not_ Earth out of those doors."

"Right," the Doctor nodded and pointed past Daniel. "You're going to want to go down the corridor, turn left, then right, then _another_ right, left again, right then up some stairs and there will be a room on your left. You can use the shower in there."

Daniel just stared at him. "Right, do you have a map?"

"Don't worry, the TARDIS will help you."

Daniel frowned but turned to walk down the corridor, not really knowing what to expect the TARDIS to be. Behind him, he missed the Doctor look at the monitor with a concerned look.

~DW~

Five minutes later, Daniel stepped back into the console room wearing a white vest with grey sweatpants, towel drying his hair. Although he couldn't see the TARDIS, whatever that was, the lights in the corridors brightened and shut off instantly if he was going to right or wrong way… he was slightly concerned to see that his date clothes had been replaced with the current clothes he wore because he hadn't heard anyone enter the shower room with him and he didn't know where his clothes had gone.

With the question of who had changed his clothes on his lips, he found the console room empty. "Doctor?" he called out, expecting the tall alien to be hidden or pop up from some hidden compartment. "Doctor?"

There was no reply, the only noise being the hum of the ship. The doors were ajar, he assumed they had landed and had gone ahead to check for danger like he had seen countless of Sci-Fi heroes do when they landed on a planet, so he planned to join the Doctor outside and experience second alien planet…

… he was disappointed to discover that they landed inside a very Earth-like reception area. He expected flying cars, men and woman of different species walking hand in hand through the streets of the planet _not_ a bloody reception! Through the doors that led into a room, there appeared to be a commotion of sorts, a man was shouting and it sounded like he was trying to stop the wedding. Maybe the Doctor wouldn't mind if he stepped out of his ship to get in on the drama brewing in the other room.

The moment he moved to step out of the ship, the doors slammed shut by themselves. "Hey!" the rotor in the center of the console began to move as the wheezing sound began to echo even if it sounded forced. "Oh no! No, no, no!" he ran up from the doors and to the console as he held on as the ship began to shake with quite some force.

The shaking continued for few more moments before stopping, the room was silent besides Daniel's breathing. "Okay, what just happened?" Daniel asked aloud, not really expecting an answer.

"The TARDIS has been displaced from time," the Doctor's voice sounded from behind Daniel, causing him to jump. "The Doctor is trapped in a time loop that is blocking me from him."

Gingerly, Daniel reached out to poke 'the Doctor' but his finger passed through his body. It was a hologram, Daniel had seen holograms in films and TV shows but this was nothing like them. "Okay," he began. "So the Doctor is trapped in a time loop that _we_ can't get to him..." he tried to think of something, _anything_ he might have seen that could work. "Can't we go back and warn the Doctor of the time loop."

The hologram of the Doctor shook its head. "That would cause a rip in the fabric of time."

"Well I don't see _you_ throwing ideas around."

"That is because you have not _asked_."

"I shouldn't have to ask!"

"Maybe you should ask."

" _Fine_ ," Daniel huffed. "What is your plan?"

The hologram disappeared before reappearing on the other side of the console. "You drive."

"You've got to be joking."

"You asked."

"This is ridiculous! I am not flying the ship! I haven't even passed my driving test!"

The argument continued for a few minutes but the hologram had won as stood before part of the console. "You need to hold that lever down while also pressing down that button."

Daniel shook his hands and rolled his shoulders, pumping himself up. "Okay, remind me _one_ more time."

The hologram rolled its eyes. "Now!"

Daniel pulled the lever down and reached out to hold down the button that had been shown. The console sparked as it forced itself to land, the wheezing sounding strained. "Come on! Almost there!" under his hand, the lever began to shake as it tried to force itself upwards. "Is it working?!"

Despite Daniel's best efforts of holding down the lever, it forced its way up and the wheezing came to an abrupt stop. Daniel groaned in anger as he tried to force the lever down once more, now prepared. The hologram had disappeared, not that Daniel noticed as he desperately tried to move the lever.

~DW~

Daniel sat in the chair by the console, just waiting for something to happen. The idea of being alone in the TARDIS worried him, he didn't know what to do… he was helpless. The Doctor was still trapped in a time loop and he wasn't sure the ship could do anything to save him.

He looked up at the rotor, expecting it to start moving at any second. To hear that wheezing sound would relive him of the worry just _anything_ would be better then nothing. Almost by thinking it, lever on the TARDIS began to move as the rotor began to move with speed. The hologram appeared once more. "Emergency programming activated."

Daniel breathed a sigh of relief, getting off the chair. "Is there anything I can do?"

"Hold on."

Daniel laughed, holding onto the TARDIS console as the ship shook, the wheezing sounded natural instead of strained as the TARDIS continued to move. The wheezing stopped and the box stopped shaking, they had _finally_ landed. The doors opened and there stood the Doctor, but he hadn't looked at Daniel and was instead speaking to someone outside the door.

"Come on, all of you get in!" He shouted, the rotor began to move as it completed its mission. "Come on now!"

It seemed that the Doctor hadn't been able to help the people outside the TARDIS as he fell inside, alone. "Doctor!" Daniel called, rushing over to the alien and threw himself at him. "I was _so_ worried!"

The Doctor caught him with ease, laughing, as they hugged. "But you were fine," the TARDIS hummed around them as if speaking to him. "You tried to pilot the TARDIS back to me? Oh you are brilliant."

They stood like that for a moment longer, neither of them noticing or bothered, until the TARDIS hummed rather loudly at them. "What's the plan?" Daniel asked, pulling away from the Doctor.

"We need to stop Sarah saying 'I do'"

Daniel stepped back as he allowed the Doctor to pilot to TARDIS, whoever this Sarah woman was she must be important. "Daniel, I need you to hold down that lever again!" the Doctor called, holding down the lever.

"Okay!" he rushed over to take over from him, watching as the Doctor ran for the doors.

"Sarah!"

"Oh, Doctor!" A woman's voice called.

"Got to be quick. The TARDIS can't stabilize. Clyde's keeping the Trickster busy at the moment. Oh those three are just brilliant!"

"What can I do?" Sarah begged. "If I say no, we're trapped here forever, if I say yes, I condemn the world to the Trickster. Either way I lose, there's no way out."

The lever began to resist being held down, Daniel's straining to keep it held down. "It all rests with you Sarah. Your greatest challenge. The hardest thing you'll ever face in your life."

"What is it? Tell me what I've got to do."

"You've fought the Trickster before, you know how he operates, how he can be defeated…"

"No. No…" Sarah's voice cracked.

"I know you're a good man Peter," the Doctor sighed. "I'm so sorry."

There was a scream; Daniel's arm began to tremble as the lever slowly began to rise. "Clyde!" Sarah cried.

"I can't hold it! Doctor!" Daniel was forced to let go, the doors slammed shut in the Doctor's face. "Shit!" Daniel shook his hand, the pain stinging from the strong grip he had on the lever. "I'm sorry, I couldn't hold it."

The Doctor only sighed but offered him a smile. "You did the best you could and that's all that matters."

"What do we do now?"

"We wait."

And waited they did. The Doctor explained to Daniel what he had been doing in the chapel and who Sarah Jane Smith was and he honestly expected the same reaction Rose did to Sarah…

 _~DW~_

 _The Doctor and Sarah ran through the school gym to find the source of a scream. They almost skid into Rose, who ran from a converging corridor._

 _"Did you hear that?" Rose asked, concerned, but that faded instantly as she spotted Sarah. "Who's she?"_

 _"Rose, Sarah Jane! Sarah Jane, Rose." He introduced._

 _Rose looked unpleasantly surprised. They both shook hands. "Hi. Nice to meet you," Sarah offered, a fake smile on her face, before turning to the Doctor. "You can tell you're getting older, your assistants are getting younger."_

 _"I'm_ not _his assistant!" Rose cried, outraged._

 _~DW~_

… But Daniel just nodded along with the story, laughing when he mentioned a moment that he thought was funny. He wasn't jealous like Rose, they'd only met hours ago, but he had almost expected Daniel to show some sort of emotion other then accepting.

He supposed Rose had a reason to be jealous, they'd been travelling together for a while at that point and he couldn't deny that there _had_ been something between them during their travels and even after that. But he had given the closure he had needed with his duplicate, living in the parallel world with her where they'd both grow old and die together.

"Why did Sarah Jane leave?" Daniel asked, after hearing all those stories it was odd that she wanted to leave.

The Doctor sighed, running a hand through his hair as he thought back. "I had received a call from Gallifrey, my home planet, saying I was needed and that humans weren't allowed on the planet… I hadn't wanted to leave her; Sarah was _so_ good that I didn't want her to go."

"You must have cared for her a lot then."

"Yeah… I still do I suppose, always keeping an eye on her when she's saving the Earth."

Daniel smiled. He hoped after his adventure that the Doctor would keep an eye on him… but would he want to leave? He could stow away within the TARDIS, make it look like he had left and jump out from within, maybe they'd laugh and continue journeying or would the Doctor send him away, dump him back at his flat and never to be seen again.

He didn't want to think too much of it. Live in the now not the past, that's what his nan always said.

The TARDIS hummed, pulling the two men from their thoughts. "We can land now," the Doctor informed. "Hold on tight."

~DW~

The TARDIS had finally landed, no longer straining against the time loop. The Doctor and Daniel ran into the room to find Sarah Jane holding a young black boy, Clyde, in her arms. The Trickster having been defeated by Peter, who had gone back on his deal with the creature. "Mum!" A young boy, Luke, called as he pushed past them, followed closely by a young Indian girl, Rani.

"Doctor!" Sarah wept as they joined her side, the Doctor hugging her as she cried.

"My Sarah Jane, you did it," he mumbled in her ear, regretting making his friend chose between the man she loved and the Earth. "The trap's broken, time's moving forwards again," the room around them began to shake. "We're going home!"

"Hold on!" Luke yelled, huddling around Sarah Jane.

"We're all going home!"

A bright light filled the room…

~DW~

… And they stood in the TARDIS. Time had reset them to the point they had been in before the time loop, Daniel's hair had returned to being damper then it had been. Daniel walked around to the doors, where the Doctor stood, and placed a hand on his arm.

"I'm sorry." Was all he said.

~DW~

The TARDIS materialised before Sarah Jane and the children, who had all come round to give their condolences for the wedding being called off, all of them startled to see the blue box. Sarah Jane had just been saying that the Doctor wouldn't come back, always disappearing without even a goodbye.

"Doctor!" She gasped.

"What do you take me for Sarah?" He opened the door, leaning against the other door with a smile. "Jut thought I'd go the quick way… oh," he stepped away from the TARDIS, Daniel stepping out as he zipped up a grey hoodie. "I like it in here."

Sarah Jane looked at the Doctor with tears in her eyes, honestly not expecting to see him. She glanced over at Daniel, who looked around the attic as well. "Can we have a look?" the Indian girl asked, excited.

"What in the TARDIS? My TARDIS?" the Doctor's voice hardened and Daniel looked amused, shaking his head. "Course you can, yeah."

The children all stepped inside, leaving Daniel, Sarah Jane and the Doctor outside. Daniel glanced between them and stepped inside the TARDIS, giving the old friends a moment of privacy. "Oh wow! It really is, isn't it? It's bigger on the inside?" Clyde breathed.

"It's beautiful!" Rani exclaimed, spinning around in a circle.

"Transcendental dimensions." Luke said, Daniel laughed.

"Couldn't have said better myself," Daniel cut in, walking up to the children. "I'm Daniel by the way."

The children then began to bombard Daniel with questions, about what travelling with the Doctor was like and how many planets he had been on.

Meanwhile, Sarah Jane and the Doctor spoke. "You came all that way, for me." Sarah Jane shook her head, touched by his actions.

"You are _so_ important, not just to me," the Doctor began. "Trickster wanted to end your story but it goes on. The things you've done Sarah they're pretty impressive. But oh! The things you're gonna do…"

Sarah Jane wiped her eyes, tears threatening to spill. "See you've got another companion," she had heard what happened to Donna and she was happy to see him with someone else. He was never good by himself. "He any good?" She jokingly asked.

The Doctor laughed, nodding his head. "Oh Sarah you'd love him," he confessed, wishing he could of brought Daniel along for this adventure. "He managed to get two aliens to believe him that we weren't declaring war against them, befriended them too." she nodded along, a soft smile.

"Doctor!" Daniel called from within the TARDIS, the questions had become overwhelming.

The two shared a laugh. "That's my cue."

Walking into the TARDIS, Daniel sent them a thankful look, as the children's attention switched to the Doctor's. "The future… how about we could go for a ride?" Luke asked.

"Or back to the dinosaurs yeah?" Clyde continued.

"Another planet?" Rani finished, the trio smiling at the Doctor.

The Doctor opened his mouth to answer but was cut off by Sarah Jane. "No way! For one thing, you are grounded by the Judoon, and you're parents would never forgive me. Go on," the children trudged out of the TARDIS, offering goodbyes to Daniel and the Doctor. "Is this the last time I'm ever going to see you?"

"I don't know. I hope not." The Doctor answered.

"I haven't gotten a chance to speak to you yet!" Daniel laughed. "Remind me once I'm on Earth, we need to meet for coffee."

Sarah laughed, already glad she wasn't met with the same hostility that Rose had given her. "I'll ask Mr. Smith to keep an eye on you then," she then turned to the Doctor. "Bye Doctor. Until next time."

"Don't forget me Sarah Jane."

"No one's ever going to forget you."

With a final smile, Sarah Jane walked out of the TARDIS and shut the door behind her, watching as the TARDIS dematerialised with a final thought… that boy was going to be great with him, she was sure of it.

~DW~

A/N: So it seems that Sarah Jane approves of Daniel.

Here's some answers to reviews:

I'm glad you love Daniel lol, I thought it was going to difficult to write a human character instead of some alien or Time Lady since Daniel knows _nothing_ about alien tech or anything that isn't explained somewhat through TV and films.

Spoilers, my dear reviewer, spoilers. But I can say you're gonna see a change in them _after_ The Waters of Mars.

It was an odd episode to start on, considering it actually wasn't an episode I would consider a companion introduction episode considering Christina was the 'companion' of the episode. But I honestly couldn't find a place where Daniel didn't feel too much out of place or where he could come across as not important and since the episode is very human. I had thought about him being in Midnight, but honestly thought that the Doctor wouldn't want anything to do with the people again after the episode.

Up next is The Waters of Mars. How will Daniel react to his first intentional adventure or to Time Lord Victorious? Find out next week. Until next time, I've been Landing and this is Breaking the Rule.


	3. The Waters of Mars

Disclaimer: see _Planet of the Dead_

Breaking the Rule – The Waters of Mars

The Doctor and Daniel stepped out of the TARDIS wearing orange spacesuits, Daniel looked with wide eyes as he stared at the landscape. "The Red Planet." The Doctor grinned, looking over at Daniel.

Now this was a planet! While San Helios had been another planet it didn't look like a planet, it had looked like a desert, but now he was on _mars_. An actual alien planet, it was crazy, he honestly felt like he would wake up back in his flat at any moment.

"It's incredible!" Daniel grinned with a laugh.

The two set off to explore the planet. They had been walking for a moment, Daniel just looking around at the planet in awe, until they reached a ledge. "Oh, beautiful!" The Doctor exclaimed, looking over the ledge he could see a base. There was one large center dome with six corridors, five other smaller domes were connected to the large dome as well as a rocket.

Daniel was about to ask a question, but felt something press against his back and he stiffened. "D-Doctor." He stuttered, putting his hands up.

"Rotate, slowly," the Doctor turned and watched with wide eyes as a small robot held a gun to Daniel's back, the human doing as commanded. "You are under arrest, for trespassing. Gadget-gadget."

~DW~

"State your name, rank, and intention." A blonde woman with a gun demanded, holding a gun to the Doctor and Daniel.

The pair had been stripped of their suits upon entry into the dome revealing the Doctor to be wearing his blue pinstriped suit and Daniel wore a white vest and grey sweatpants along with running shoes.

"The Doctor," he began, his hands up as he stood before Daniel slightly. "Doctor. Fun."

"Daniel Young," Daniel continued, trying to keep the fear hidden. "Traveller. Travel." He glanced at the Doctor, not really sure what to say.

Above them a door opened and a man ran in. "What the hell?" He ran down the steps towards them. "They're people! People on Mars!" He joined the woman as he peered at them. "How?"

"They were wearing this thing," A German woman stood off to the side, examining their spacesuits. "I have never seen anything like it."

"What did Mission Control say?"

"They're out of range for ten hours with the solar flares."

"If we could cut the chat, everyone." The woman with the gun sent them a look.

"Actually, chat's second on my list," the Doctor spoke up. "The first being the gun, pointed at our heads. Which puts our heads second and chat third, I think," he thought it over. "Gun, head, chat, yeah. I hate lists. But you could hurt someone with that, just… put it down."

"Oh, you'd like that." The woman glared.

"I would _love_ it." Daniel commented from behind, his eyes widening as the woman turned to give him a glare.

"Why should I either of you?"

"Because we give you our word," he nudged Daniel slightly, who nodded. "And, 40 million miles away from home, our word is all you've got." The Doctor reasoned, looking her in the eyes.

The woman hesitated, looking between them, before lowering the gun. "Keep Gadget covering them." Daniel let out a deep sigh, groaning as he felt relieved that the gun wasn't pointed at him any longer.

A young man stood next to the robot from earlier, nodded, wearing large gloves. "Gadget-gadget!" the robot answered.

"Oh, right, so you control that thing? Auto-glove response?" the Doctor questioned.

"You got it," the man moved his right hand. "To the right." He demonstrated.

"Gadget-gadget!" the robot moved to the right.

"And to the left."

It moved to the left.

"It's a bit flimsy." The Doctor commented and the man glared at him.

"Gadget-gadget!"

"Does it say anything else?" Daniel asked, looking at the robot with intrigue.

"I think it's funny." He replied, offering him a small smile.

"I hate funny robots." The Doctor muttered under his breath, Daniel shook his head.

"I think it's adorable." He assured the man.

"Excuse me, boss. Computer log says we've got two extra people on site," a woman's voice spoke out through a comm. "How's that possible?"

"Keep the Bio-dome closed," the blonde woman ordered, it became clear to them that this woman was the commander of these people. "And when using open comms you call me Captain."

"Yeah, but… who are they?"

The blonde woman shut off the comm.

"They can't be World State flight, we'd know about it," an older man stood in the corner of the room, eying the travellers. "Therefore, they've got to be one of those independents, yeah?" He walked towards them, frowning. "Was it the Branson inheritance lot? They've talked about a Mars shot for years."

The Doctor and Daniel shared a look, appearing to have the same idea. "Right, yes, ok, you got us," Daniel lied, taking the lead, and flashed them a smile. "So I'm Daniel Young and this is the Doctor, and you are?"

"Oh, come on," The blonde woman rolled her eyes. "We're the first off-world colonists in history. Everyone on Planet Earth knows who we are."

The Doctor looked at her in shock. "You're the first?" Daniel looked impressed, acting like he knew where he was. "Then this is…"

"Bowie Base One," The Doctor and the woman said, but the Doctor continued. "Number one? Founded July 1st, 2058. Established Bowie Base One in the Gusev Crater," he explained to Daniel, who had sent him a confused look. "You've been here how long?"

"17 months." The blonde woman stated, crossing her arms.

"2059. It's 2059, right now," the Doctor slapped his forehead as the realisation hit him. "Oh! My head is so stupid, you're Captain Adelaide Brooke!" He pointed at the blonde. "And Ed! You're Deputy Edward Gold," he pointed to the man that had eyed them. "Tarak Ital, MD," he pointed to the man that had ran into the room. "Nurse Yuri Kerenski," he pointed to another male who had been stood by an Asian woman. "Senior Technician Steffi Ehrlich," he pointed to the German woman. "Junior Technician Roman Groom," he pointed to the man stood by Gadget. "Geologist Mia Bennett," he pointed to the Asian woman. "You're only 27 years old."

Everyone _died_ on this base in 2059 and there was nothing he could do.

"As I said, Doctor, everyone knows our names." Adelaide huffed.

"Oh, they'll never forget them," the Doctor remarked, looking at them all sadly. "What's the date, today? What is it? Tell me the _exact_ date."

Adelaide frowned. "November 1st 2059."

The Doctor let out a sigh, Daniel frowned at his reaction. Today was the day that they would die, killed in a nuclear blast. He needed to get Daniel and himself off planet, he would offer Daniel a redo if it meant leaving… he couldn't get involved in an event like this.

"Right. Ok, fine." He swallowed hard.

"Is there something wrong?" Steffi asked.

"What's so important about my age?" Mia frowned at them.

"Doctor?" Daniel asked softly behind him. "What is it?"

"We should go," the Doctor began to walk backwards, taking Daniel's hand as he did, pulling him back. "we _really_ should go

"We should go, we _really_ should go. I'm sorry, I'm sorry with all my hearts, but it's on very rare times when I've got no choice," the Doctor reached out to shake their hands while Daniel stood back, unsure what to make of his actions. "It's been an honour. Seriously, a very great honour to meet you all. The Martian pioneers, oh thank you." He tapped Gadget.

Daniel frowned, watching him closely. He was hiding something from them all, though the crew didn't seem to notice but instead seemed confused by the praise; it made Daniel feel unease as he tried to imagine every possible outcome that could happen to someone in space… not that he knew what _could_ in fact happen in space.

"Gadget-gadget." The robot replied.

The Doctor began to step back to Daniel, giving Adelaide a salute. "Thank you," he stopped suddenly. "There's two others. Hold on… Margaret Cain and Andrew Stone."

Ed walked over to one of the computers as Daniel moved next to the Doctor. "Doctor, you need to tell me what's going on." He stated quietly, frowning up at the Doctor.

"Maggie… if you want to meet the only new human beings that you're gonna see in the next five years, better come take a look." Ed said into the computer as Daniel, however he didn't notice.

A loud snarling came over the comms, Daniel looked at the Doctor who looked sadly at the crew of Bowie Base One. "What was that?" Mia asked.

"We really should go." The Doctor tensed, reaching out to take Daniel's arm.

"Show me the Bio-dome." Adelaide commanded, standing beside Ed and watched as he pulled the camera feed up as the lights in the bio-dome go out." "I'm going over. Doctor, Daniel, with me."

"Yeah… I'm sorry, erm," The Doctor shook his head. "We'd love to help, but we're leaving, right now."

"Take their spacesuits, lock them up," she ordered Steffi. "This stared as you both arrived, so you're not going anywhere, except with me."

~DW~

The Doctor, Adelaide, Daniel and Tarak walked down a long a darkened corridor, the only light came from their torches and the dimly lit lights along the walls. Gadget was following, a blue light shining from his eye port.

"What's so important about Mia's age? You said she's only 27, why does it matter, what did you mean?" Adelaide questioned.

"Oh, I just… open my mouth and words come out," the Doctor shrugged. "They don't make much sense."

Daniel was the same age as Mia, the Doctor thought as he looked over at his companion. He didn't want to imagine Daniel suffering a similar fate as Mia or anyone on Bowie Base One but as he walked he started to imagine Daniel's smile gone but instead a look of fear was

Daniel was the same age as Mia, the Doctor thought as he looked over to his companion. He couldn't help but imagine Daniel suffering a similar fate as Mai or anyone on Bowie Base One as he walked, the usual smile on Daniel's was replaced with a fearful look as he desperately searched for the Doctor but was instead backed into a corner as something like a Dalek rolled around the corner and gunned him down or even a Cyberman gripped him by the collarbone as electricity coursed through his body…

"I've got to ask," Daniel's voice broke the Doctor out of his thoughts, reminding himself that after this Daniel would be returned to Earth and he would probably never see him again. "Why did you choose the name Bowie? Is it like an anagram or is it something else?"

Adelaide looked unamused as she glanced at Daniel. "The company choose the name; we had no part in it."

"Alright, bit boring," he muttered to himself. "Was hoping it would be something fun like David _Bowie_."

"Gadget-gadget!"

"See, Gadget agrees with me."

"Oh don't encourage it," the Doctor whined. "I hate robots."

"Yeah, and he's not too fond of you," Roman's voice came out from the comm. "Daniel can keep the compliments coming," Daniel laughed. "What's wrong with robots?"

"It's not the robots, it's the people. Dressing them up and giving them silly voices, like you're reducing them."

"Yeah. Friend of mine, she made her domestic robot look like a dog."

"Ah, well, dogs, that's different."

"But I adapted Gadget out of the worker drones. Those things are huge! They built this place when the shell was lowered from orbit. They've got a strength capacity."

"The channel is open for essential communications _only_." Adelaide cut in sharply.

"Sorry. Love those drones."

"I've read all that stuff about you, Captain Adelaide," the Doctor looked at Adelaide, eying her. "But one thing they never said, was it worth it? The mission."

"We've got excellent results from the soil analysis." She commented.

"I know… but all of it. Cos they say you sacrificed everything, devoted your whole life to get here."

"It's been chaos back home. 40 long years, the climate, the ozone, the oil apocalypse. We almost reached extinction. And to fly above that, to stand on a world with no smoke, where the only straight line is the sunlight, yes. It's worth it."

The Doctor grinned. "Ahh! That's the Adelaide Brooke I always wanted to meet. The woman with starlight in her soul."

Adelaide stopped suddenly, halting the rest of them as she shined her torch ahead of her. "What's that?" They ran up to where a body of a woman was lying on the floor. "It's Maggie."

"Don't touch her!" The Doctor warned Tarak as he knelt beside her.

"I know the procedure," Tarak scoffed, pulling out a penlight. "Maggie, can you hear me? It's Tarak. Maggie?" He rolled her onto back. "It's ok. She's still breathing. She's alive," the Doctor looked towards the Bio-dome. "Yuri, I've got Margaret Cain, head trauma. I need a full med-pack." Tarak spoke into the comm.

"I've got it. Med-pack on its way." Yuri replied.

A moment later Ed and Yuri were running down the corridor, the Russian carrying a backboard and a med-pack. "Don't touch her, use the gloves." The Doctor warned to them.

"Do what he says," Tarak agreed. "Get her to sickbay. Put her in isolation."

"We're going to the Bio-dome, Tarak with me," Adelaide began to order. "Yuri can take of her. Ed, go back. Gadget, stand guard. Keep an eye on this area."

"Gadget-gadget!"

"Captain, you're gonna need me," Ed cut in. "Andy's the only other crew member out here, and if that wasn't an accident, then he's gone wild."

"You've deserted your post. Consider that an official warning," she gave him a stern look. "Now, get back to work! Doctor! Daniel!"

With a look at the others, Daniel and the Doctor followed Adelaide. They stepped into an airlock that lead to the Bio-dome, Daniel jumped as Steffi's voice came through the comm. "Captain. That sound we heard from the Bio-dome, I've run it through diagnostics. According to the computer, it's… it's Andy," She informed them, though she sounded confused. "It registers as the voice-print of Andy Stone."

Adelaide nodded. "Understood. Double-check, thanks."

"Air pressure stabilised." Tarak stated, looking at a small screen.

The airlock door opened and the four of them stepped into the dome, cautious as to the supposed threat of Andy. "Andrew? Andrew Stone? It's Captain Brooke. Andy report. I need to see you. Where are you?"

The Doctor stepped away to a computer, using the sonic screwdriver on it and the lights turned back on. "There you go."

"What's that device?"

"Screwdriver."

"Are you the Doctor or the Janitor?"

"I don't know, sounds like me. The maintenance man of the universe."

"You two, stay with me, don't step out of my sight. Tarak, go to External Door South, make sure it's intact."

"Yes, ma'am." Tarak walked off, leaving the three of them.

"Quiet an achievement," the Doctor examined the plants as they walked. "First flower on Mars in 10,000 years. And you're growing veg!"

"It's that lot, they're already planning Christmas dinner," Adelaide explained. "Last year it was dehydrated protein, this year they want the real thing."

Daniel hummed from beside the Doctor. "But it's _Christmas_ , you can't beat a good old roast."

"If we must." Adelaide shrugged.

Daniel gasped as he heard a bird chirped. "You've got birds?"

The Doctor laughed at his reaction but Adelaide rolled her eyes. "It's part of the project, to keep the insect population down."

"Good sign." The Doctor commented.

"In what way?"

"Well, they're still alive."

"Captain? Good news," Yuri called through the comm. "It's Maggie, she's awake, she's back with us. Hey. How are you, soldier? Just take it easy. Can you remember what happened?"

"I was just working," Maggie answered. "Then I woke… woke up here."

"What about Andy?" Adelaide questioned. "We can't find him. Was he alright?"

"I don't know, I just…"

"If you remember anything, let me know straightaway."

"Yuri, does she know how she ended up in the tunnel?" Ed's voice questioned.

~DW~

They had been walking for a few minutes, Daniel asking the Doctor various questions about Mars. The Doctor was honestly waiting for Daniel to ask the question of what happened to the crew of Bowie Base One that he wanted to leave, but it never came. He had glanced over at Adelaide a couple of times, he assumed he was waiting for her to be out of earshot to ask but it never came.

He couldn't guess what his reaction to the truth would be, would he want to help them in the way he wanted to or would be horrified and demand to go back to the TARDIS… no, Daniel would never want to leave without trying to help and there was _nothing_ they could do to stop this from happening. It needed to happen to advance the human race, get them into the stars and do incredible things.

Daniel had been about to ask another question when Yuri's frantic voice spoke through the comm. "This is sickbay, we have a situation. Maggie's condition has… I don't know… I don't know what it is. It's water, just… pouring out."

"Yuri, calm down," Adelaide spoke into her comm. "Just tell me what's happened to her."

"The skin is… sort of broken around the mouth. And she's exuding water, like she's drowning."

"Tarak, this area's unsafe, we're going back. Tarak? Tarak!" there was no reply, causing the Doctor and Daniel to share a concerned look.

"Where was he?" Daniel asked.

They ran in the direction where Tarak had been searching when Adelaide stopped as the Doctor and Daniel continued on. They went back and joined her when Daniel let out a horrified gasp as they watched Tarak on his knees, convulsing, as Andy had his hand on the other man's head, water pouring down it. The Doctor and Adelaide walked towards them slowly, Daniel unable to move as he watched in horror.

It was like something out of a horror movie! Andy's mouth had cracked and water was pouring out of it like Yuri had described about Maggie but the thing that scared him the most was seeing his eyes were void of all colour other then white, they looked _dead_.

"Andy, just leave him alone." The Doctor called.

"Step away from him." Adelaide raised her gun.

"I can help. I promise, I can help. Just leave that man alone."

"I order you to stop!"

"Andy, I'm ask you, please just take your hand away from him and listen to me."

"Stop, or I'll shoot!"

Andy looked over at them for the first time since they'd been shouting over each other. Tarak collapsed to the ground. "There now, that's better. Hmm?" the Doctor stepped forward slowly, showing him that he meant no harm. "So you must be Andy. Hello."

Tarak pushed himself off the ground and looked at them, his face and eyes similar to Andy. Daniel rushed forward, his fight or flight response kicking in, grabbed Adelaide and the Doctor's free hands as he pulled them away from the fallen crew members.

Adelaide took her hand out of Daniel's grip and guided them back to the airlock, not sparing a look at Daniel. She stepped in first, followed by Daniel and then the Doctor. "Set the seals at maximum!" the Doctor exclaimed.

Andy raised his arm and shot water at the door. They all jumped back, startled by the action, and Andy lowered his arm and moved to the door. Looking at them through the window, he began to pound against the door.

"Captain, we need you back here." Steffi called over the comm.

"Just tell me Maggie is contained. Can you confirm, Ed?" Adelaide replied.

"Confirmed," Ed informed them. "She's locked in."

"Keep surveillance till I get back. And close down all water supplies. All pipes and outlets, don't consume anything. Have you got that, everyone? That's an order. Don't drink the water. Don't even touch it. Not one drop."

"Can you talk?" the Doctor peered at the man through the window before speaking to Daniel and Adelaide. "Human beings are 60 percent water, which makes the perfect host."

"What for?" Daniel asked, hugging himself at the thought.

"I don't know, I never will… because we've got to go. Whatever's started here, I can't see it to the end. I can't," Andy slammed his hand against the door as Tarak joined him, together they opened their mouths and shot water at the door seals. "This thing's airtight, yeah?"

"And therefore watertight." Adelaide answered.

"Depends how clever the water is."

The control panel started sparking. "They're fusing the system." Adelaide breathed.

"Abandon ship!" And with that, the trio escaped from the airlock and back out into the tunnel.

Adelaide got a head start as Daniel followed close behind, the Doctor closed the door and caught up with the humans just as Andy and Tarak made it through and began to chase them. The Doctor stopped once they reached Gadget, Daniel was grateful for the break as he hunched over as he tried to catch his breath.

"Doctor, we haven't got time!" Adelaide yelled, breathless.

"They can run faster than us, we need a lift!" he explained.

"Gadget-gadget."

The Doctor began to fiddle with the wiring, stepping aside as he held out a hand for Daniel. "Daniel, get on front!" He called, Daniel stepped up onto Gadget and pressed himself as much he to the front of the robot. "Adelaide, get on behind me!" he stepped up onto Gadget as well, pressing himself against Daniel.

"That thing goes at two miles an hour!" Adelaide exclaimed.

"Not any more!" Andy and Tarak were catching up to them. "Trust me."

Adelaide looked over her shoulder and then climbed behind them.

"Gadget-gadget!"

"Gadget-gadget!" the Doctor repeated, starting up Gadget.

With a jolt Gadget set off, flames shooting out from the exhaust and leaving a trail of flame behind them. The Doctor put his arms over Daniel and pressed against him in an attempt to keep him steady him, he missed the way Daniel blushed and had it been any other situation Daniel would have made a comment but now wasn't the time.

Gadget stopped just at the entrance to the airlock they had entered through, the Doctor opened the door, allowing Daniel to step inside while Adelaide handled the control panel.

"The Central Dome airlocks have got Hardinger seals," Adelaide informed them. "There's no way they can get in."

The Doctor stepped but held the door open. "Come on, come on!" he called to Gadget.

"Gadget-gadget."

"You said you hated robots!" Daniel called from behind, seeing Andy and Tarak reaching them.

"I do!" the Doctor called back, closing the door once Gadget rolled in.

"We're safe," Adelaide assured them. "It's hermetically sealed, they can't get in."

"Water is patient, Adelaide. Water just waits, it wears down the clifftops, the mountainsm the whole of the world," the Doctor muttered. Water always wins. Come on!"

They exited the airlock and out into another corridor. "Bio-dome Tunnel is out of bounds. Andy and Tarak are infected, repeat, infected," Adelaide reported into the comm. "Make no contact. And if they make any move, tell me. I'm going to the Medical Dome."

Adelaide strode along the tunnel, the Doctor kept up the pace with her but Daniel was only an arms length behind him. "Blimey, it's a distance," the Doctor groaned jokingly. "You could do with bikes in this place."

"Every pound in weight equals three tons of fuel."

"Yeah, I know… but bikes."

~DW~

They arrived in the sickbay, Daniel now wearing the Doctor's blue pinstriped jacket. Ed was there, watching Maggie as she stood at the window. "Has that door got Hardinger seal?" Adelaide asked.

Ed shook his head. "No, just basic."

"Then the moment she heads for the door, we evacuate. Got that?"

"Pulse is low. Electrical activity in the brain seems to be going haywire."

"Can she talk?" Daniel asked, looking embarrassed as everyone in the room stared at him. "If she still has brain activity, what's stopping her from speaking to us?"

The Doctor grinned at him. "Good question, Daniel."

"Don't know," Yuri shrugged. "She was before we noticed the change, but…"

Adelaide stepped towards the glass, looking Maggie in her eyes. "Maggie? Can you hear me? Do you know who I am?" Maggie just stood there, water falling from her mouth. "Your commanding officer, Captain Adelaide Brooke. Can you tell me what happened?"

The Doctor joined her by the glass, Maggie turned her head to look at the Doctor. "Hoorghwall in schtochman ahn warrellinsh och fortabellan iin hoorgwahn." The Doctor spoke.

Maggie looked taken aback by the Doctor speaking in an odd language. "What language is that?" Ed asked, confused.

"Ancient North Martian."

"Don't be ridiculous." Adelaide scoffed.

"It's like she recognised it." Ed defended her.

Daniel joined them at the glass, Maggie's attention now turned to him. He took a deep breath as he looked at her, pity filled his eyes. "Her eyes," he mumbled to the Doctor. "Her eyes are different from the others." He was sure that the white eyes of Andy and Tarak would haunt him for years to come.

"Not different enough for me." Ed spat, having overheard Daniel's mumble.

"Where do you get your water from?" the Doctor asked, looking at Adelaide.

"The ice field," she answered. "That's why we chose the creater, we're on top of an underground glacier.

"Tons of water. Marvellous."

"But every single drop is filtered," Yuri frowned. "It's screened, it's safe."

"Looks like it, yeah."

"If something was frozen down there, a viral life form, held in the ice for all those years…" Ed mused.

"Look at her mouth," the Doctor frowned. "All blackened, like there's some sort of fission. This thing, whatever it is, doesn't just hide in water, it _creates_ water."

Daniel pulled the jacket around him tighter. "But what does it _want_ , Doctor?"

"She was looking at the screen, at Earth," Yuri spoke. "She wanted Earth. A world full of water."

"Captain, with me," Ed walked away from the group with Adelaide, unaware that the Doctor had began to listen in, speaking quietly. "I'm sorry, but it's an unknown infection and it's spreading. That demands Action Procedure One."

"You think I don't know that?" Adelaide shook her head, giving the man a glare.

"I think you need reminding."

"Yeah."

"Well, at least I'm good for something."

"Now and again."

"That's almost a compliment. Things must be serious."

"Sorry, sorry," the Doctor cut in. "But… Action One, that means evacuation, yeah?"

"We're going home," Adelaide confirmed before speaking into her radio. "This is Captain Brooke. I'm declaring Action One, repeat to all crewmembers, this is Action One, with immediate effect. Evacuate the base. Steffi, what's your estimate on shuttle viability?"

"It's a nine-month flight, it'll take three hours to load what we need." The woman replied over the radio.

"You've got 20 minutes. And give me a report on Andy and Tarak."

"Still in the Bio-dome Tunnel. They're just standing there, like they're waiting."

"Keep an eye on them. And make that 20 minutes 15! Ed, line up the shuttle, go straight to ignition status."

"Doing it now." Ed ran out, leaving Adelaide and Yuri to pack essentials.

"But what about Maggie?" Yuri looked over at the woman.

"She stays behind," she continued without looking over at the woman. "We've got no way to contain her on board. Close this place down. I want power directed to the shuttle."

The Doctor watched her with a sad, resigned look on his face. Decided, he approached her. "Of course, the only problem is…"

"Thank you both, your spacesuits will be returned. And good luck to you both."

The Doctor sighed, running a hand through his hair as he contemplated what to say next. "The problem is, this thing is clever. It didn't infect the birds or the insects in the Bio-dome, it chose humans. _You_ were chosen. And I told you, Adelaide, water can wait. Tarak changed straight away, but when Maggie was infected it stayed hidden inside her, no doubt, so it could infiltrate the Central Dome. Which means…"

"Any one of us could already be infected… we've all been drinking the same water."

"And if you take that back to Earth… one drop, just _one_ drop."

"But we're only presuming infection. If we can find out how this thing got through, when it got through… Yuri, continue with Action One. I'm going to inspect the ice-field."

The Doctor watched as Adelaide left the room before turning his attention to Daniel. "Right. We should leave. _Finally_ we should leave," Daniel frowned, confused. "Daniel, me new found pal, no point in seeing the ice-field."

"No?" Daniel replied.

"No point at all. No."

"Do you want to see the ice-field?"

He grinned, grabbing Daniel by the hand and pulled him out of the room with a shout. "Adelaide!"

They chased her down the tunnel they had been in moments ago. "I've got to say Doctor," Daniel panted. "Bikes would be brilliant about now."

She ignored them but didn't stop them from joining her. "They tell legends of Mars, from long ago of a fine and noble race who built an empire out of snow." The Doctor began.

"I haven't got time for stories." She brushed them off.

"Perhaps they found something down there. Used their might and wisdom to freeze it."

"Doctor! We need to find any sort of change in the water process. We've got to date the infection."

The Doctor tried to access the computer, Daniel behind him, while Adelaide worked on another. "Access denied." The computer that the Doctor was working sounded.

"You don't look like a coward," Adelaide stated. "But all you've wanted to do is leave with Daniel. You know _so_ much about us."

"Well, you're famous." He shrugged.

"It's like you know more."

"This moment, this precise moment in time, it's like… I mean, it's only a theory. What do I know? But I think certain moments in time are fixed. Tiny, precious moments. Everything else is in flux, anything can happen, but those certain moments, they have to stand. This base, on Mars, with you, Adelaide Brooke, this is one vital moment. What happens here must always happen."

"Which is what?"

"I don't know. I think something wonderful happens, something that started 50 years ago, isn't that right?"

"I've never told anyone that."

"You told your daughter. And maybe, one day, she tells the story to her daughter of the day the Earth was stolen and moved across the universe. And you…"

"I saw the Daleks. We looked up, the sky had changed. Everyone was running and screaming. And my father took hold of me… I never saw him again. Nor my mother. They were never found. But out on the streets, there was panic and burning. I went to the window, and there in the sky… I saw it, Doctor. And it _saw_ me. It stared at me. It looked right into me. And then… it simply went away. I knew, that night, I knew I would follow it."

"But not for revenge."

"What would be the point of that?"

"That's what makes you remarkable. And that's how you created history." He smiled.

Daniel shook his head. Unable to understand why she hadn't wanted revenge against the Dalek's. They had taken _everything_ from her yet she had been inspired, he had been out on the streets when the Dalek's attacked just hiding. He had watched them kill a young boy no older then 10 because his parents had said no! If the Dalek's had killed his mother… he'd want revenge in some form. But it wasn't the Dalek's he wanted revenge against but instead it was the…

"What do you mean?" Adelaide's voice pulled Daniel out of his thoughts as she frowned at the Doctor, confused.

"Imagine it, Adelaide. If you began a journey that takes the human race all the way out to the stars. It begins with you. And then your granddaughter, you inspire her so that in 30 years, Susie Fontana Brooke is the pilot of the first light-speed ship to Proxima Centauri. And then everywhere. With her children, and her children's children forging the way to the Dragon Star, the Celestial Belt of the Winter Queen, the Map of the Water Snake Wormholes. One day a Brooke will fall in love with a Tandonian prince, and that's the start of a whole species. But everything starts with you, Adelaide. From 50 years ago, to right here, _today_. Imagine."

"Why are you? Why are you tell me this? Doctor, why tell me?"

"As consolation."

The two stared at each other for a moment, Adelaide trying to find his sudden need to tell her all this and the Doctor just hoped that he was doing the right thing. The computer beeped and displayed Andy's records. "Andy Stone. He logged on yesterday."

They gathered around the screen, watching the recording of Andy. "Maintenance log, 21.10, November 2059. Number three water filter's a bust," he held up white thin dish with holes carved out. "And guess what? The spares they sent _don't_ fit. What a surprise. Over and out."

The footage cut out and Daniel shook his head. "One filter that's all it took to prevent an alien infection, crazy."

"But that means the infection arrived today, and the water's only cycled out of the Bio-dome after a week. The rest of us can't be infected. We can leave!" There was hope in Adelaide's voice as she held up her comm. "Ed, we're clean! How are we doing?"

"Shuttle active, stage one!" He replied, relieved.

~DW~

They ran back through the connecting tunnel. "You were right, Doctor." Adelaide called.

"What about?"

"Bikes!"

They shared a laugh, Daniel was glad that Adelaide had began to lighten up to them both even if they were about to leave. They ran into base control, seeing the remaining crew packing like mad. Adelaide handed the Doctor and Daniel their spacesuits. "Now get to you ship. I'm saving my people, you save yourselves. I know what this moment is. It's the moment we escaper. Now get out."

Daniel turned to exit the room, unfolding his spacesuit but the Doctor didn't follow. "What is it?" Daniel asked, a smile on his face at the thought of everyone escaping the base. "Doctor?"

It was like everything around him began to blend into one noise. He just stood there, a pained expression on his face as he so desperately tried to figure out a way to prevent the crew of Bowie Base One from being killed by the flood or the nuclear blast that was reported.

"Doctor? What's wrong?" Daniel tried again, trying to tune out of the noise around him. "What aren't you tell me? What happens here today?"

A quiet alarm began to ring around the room, no one had noticed it in their rush to grab equipment and neither had the Doctor or Daniel. "What the hell's that noise?" Adelaide asked over the noise. "Mia, you lot, shut up."

"It's the module sensors. Exterior as well. The cameras are down, but there's pressure on top of the module. Two signals right above us." Ed informed them all.

"That means… they're on the roof?" Steffi asked, dreading the answer.

"How did they get inside the Dome?" Roman frowned, fearful.

"They used the maintenance shafts." Ed suggested.

"The shaft's open, they haven't go spacesuits." Mia reached for Yuri's hand, gripping it tightly.

"They breathe water."

"But they'd _freeze_." Steffi countered.

"They've got that internal fission." Yuri remarked.

"Are we safe? They can't get through, can they?" the ceiling above them began to creak. "Can they?"

"This place is airtight!" Roman tried to assure them all.

"Can it get through? Ed? Can it get through?" Steffi pressed.

"I don't know! Water itself isn't motile but it has some resistance." Ed replied.

"Everyone, listen to me!" Adelaide yelled. "That's ten feet of steel-combination up there. We need all the protein-packs or we'll starve. Now keep working!" They continued to work. "Roman, watch the ceiling! Ed, get to the shuttle, fire it up."

"I can carry more than this lot, Captain." Ed stated.

"That's an order!"

"Captain."

The Doctor stood there, watching. Ed turned at the door to the shuttle and flashed Adelaide a smile. Yuri helped Mia while Roman kept an eye on the ceiling. Ed left. "What happens Doctor?" Daniel asked once more.

Adelaide watched as the Doctor leant down and whispered in Daniel's ear, the look on the man's face changed from confusion to one of sadness and despair. Putting an arm around Daniel's shoulders, the pair left the room.

~DW~

They entered the airlock to the planet surface, wearing their spacesuits, Daniel just stood there his eyes red f. The door hissed shut behind them as the Doctor started the process.

"Access denied."

He tried again…

"Access denied."

"Tell me what happens." Adelaide's demanded.

"I don't know." The Doctor stated.

"Yes, you do, now tell me."

"You should be with the others."

"Tell me! I could ramp up the pressure in that airlock and crush you _both_."

"Except you won't. You could have shot Andy Stone, but you didn't. I loved you for that," the Doctor sighed, trying to explain _why_ he couldn't tell her. "Imagine… imagine you knew something. Imagine you found yourself somewhere, I don't know, Pompeii. Imagine you were in Pompeii."

"What the hell's that got to do with it?"

"And you tried to save them, but, in doing so, you make it happen. Anything I do just makes it happen."

"Captain, we need you right now." Steffi said.

The comm. went silent. "I'm still here." Adelaide informed them.

"You're taking Action One. There are four more standard action procedures. And Action Five is?" The Doctor asked, though he knew the answer.

"Detonation."

"The final option. The nuclear device at the heart of the Central Dome. Today, on the 21st November 2059, Captain Brooke activates that device, taking the base and all her crew members with her. No-one ever knows why. But you were saving Earth. That's what inspired your granddaughter. She takes your people out into the galaxy, because you _die_ , on Mars. You die, today. She flies out there like she's trying to meet you."

"I won't die. I will not." Adelaide breathed.

"But your death creates the future."

"Help me. Why won't you help, Doctor, if you know all of this? Why can't you change it?"

"I _can't_."

"Why can't you find a way? Tell me."

"Adelaide, I swear, I can't. I'm sorry, but I can't. Sometimes I can, sometimes I do. Most times, I can save someone. Or anyone… but not you. You wondered all your life why that Dalek spared you. I think it knew. Your death is fixed, in time, for ever. And that's right."

"You'll both die here too."

"No." Daniel spoke, his voice thick with emotion.

"What's gonna save you?" She asked him.

Daniel turned to look up at a camera, almost certain she was watching them. "Captain Adelaide Brooke."

"Damn you both."

"Water!" They heard Roman call. "We've got water!"

"Captain! Get back! Get back! Captain! Don't touch it, Roman! Don't let it touch you!" Mia cried.

"Get back! We're abandoning this section. Get to the shuttle!" Adelaide commanded. "Yuri, lead the way, Section B Corridor, now," a door must of opened because they could hear water. "Close it!"

"Yuri, did that water touch you?" Steffi called.

"I'm clean, I'm dry." The man assured them.

The airlock opened, allowing them to exit the base. Had Adelaide meant to leave the comm. open for them to hear? Was it her way of showing the Doctor and Daniel who they were leaving to die while they escaped into the TARDIS or had it been an accident? They would never know.

They both hadn't moved from the airlock, just standing as chaos began to consume the base.

"Everyone, Section B is out," Adelaide informed them. "Listen to me! Take every pack that you can. We'll go round. We'll make our way through Section F."

"Transferring authorisation, Section F," Steffi yelled. "Mia you take the redline stock! And hurry up!"

It was silent for a moment but the sound of water pouring reached him. "Steffi, go!" Yuri exclaimed.

"Steffi, get back!" Mia cried.

"Get back!"

"Steffi, keep back!" Adelaide shouted.

"Get back!"

"Steffi!"

"Just get back! Steffi!"

"Get back!" Mia called.

"Just get back! Hurry!"

"You'll be safer in there!"

"Just shut the door! Close the door!" Roman shouted.

There was a hiss as a door closed, Steffi now trapped.

"Steffi, we'll come get you, ok? We'll come get you! Steffi!" Adelaide yelled.

"Captain!" Steffi sobbed.

"We'll open the access panel. We'll get you out through the back. Get her out! Move it!"

Steffi screamed. "Captain, it's inside!"

"Steffi!" Roman cried.

"Steffi, get back! Steffi!" Mia shrieked.

The Doctor stepped outside, but Daniel didn't move… couldn't move as he listened to them over the radio.

"We're coming! Steffi, hold on!" Adelaide tried to assure her this time.

"The access panel's fused, Captain. We can't open it." Roman reported, his voice thick with emotion.

"We can't get through!" Yuri exclaimed.

"Don't! Don't, please!" Steffi pleaded.

"There's nothing we can do."

"I can't move!"

Tears began to fall from Daniel's eyes, he tried blinking them away but they just wouldn't stop. A hand took his own, as he looked up at the Doctor, who had a heart broken expression on his face. Together they walked away, neither of them wanting to look back.

They paused in their walk when a young girl's voice spoke, her German accent thicker then Steffi's had been. "Hallo, Mutti," Steffi sobbed. "Hallo, Mars!"

Steffi had been a mother, they hadn't known until now. The Doctor pulled Daniel along, both of them continuing to listen to her speak in German.

"Steffi, can you hear me?" Adelaide called.

"Oh, my god." Mia gasped, Steffi groaning as she began to change.

"Out! Get out! Ed, we're going round the long way, how are we doing?"

"All systems online, 100 percent. Not a single delay!" Ed answered. "Don't you worry, Captain, we are gonna fly!"

Behind the travellers, the shuttle's rockets fired up.

"I need air in Section F right now."

"Locking chamber three. Locking chamber four." Yuri stated.

"Keep looking!"

"Gate five is open! Gate six is open!" Roman shouted.

"Quickly, come on!" Yuri called.

"I've got 25 to 30 lockdown." Mia reported.

"Roman, come on," Adelaide hurried him. "With me."

"You'd better go." Roman softly instructed.

"Don't just stand there, move!"

"You'd _really_ better go without me… I'm sorry, Captain. One drop."

The Doctor closed his eyes, squeezing Daniel's hand as they quickly walked.

"Roman! Roman!" Mia screamed.

"Leave him, come on." Yuri grunted.

"We can't just leave him!"

"Sorry. Come on."

"Let me go!"

"I can't let you go."

"Roman!"

"I'm so sorry."

The radio went silent but there was a groan. "Captain. The shuttle is down." It was Ed.

"What the hell do you mean?" Adelaide demanded.

"Compromised. It was Maggie."

"Get out of there!"

"Too late…. They want this ship to get to Earth. Got no choice… hated it, Adelaide. This _bloody_ job. Oh! You never gave me a chance. You never could forgive me. See you later."

Suddenly, the rocket behind them exploded. The blast knocked them both to the ground, the Doctor sat up to look at the devastation around him. "Is there _nothing_ we can do?" Daniel quietly asked, looking at the Doctor.

"We're losing oxygen! The hull is broken!" Yuri shouted.

The Doctor stared at Daniel for a moment as he remembered that he was the _last_ Time Lord. There would be no one to stop him, no one to punish him for breaking a fixed point in time… there was no one! The Doctor grinned to Daniel as he pushed himself off the ground and held a hand for Daniel to take.

"Oh Mister Young, there is a _lot_ we can do!"

Daniel managed a smile as he took the Doctor's hand, allowing the man to pull him into the base.

~DW~

An alarm was bleeping as they entered Section F. Yuri, Mia and Adelaide were holding onto anything that would keep them from getting sucked out. They removed their helmets, allowing Daniel to wipe his stinging eyes.

"Mia, take this sealant, fix that rig!" the Doctor tossed a canister. "Yuri, open emergency oxygen. Adelaide, don't just sit there!"

Mia seals the hole as Yuri started the oxygen. Adelaide was helped up by Daniel, who offered the Captain a smile, before he joined the Doctor. "That's better! The Dome's still got integrity!" the Doctor continued. "It's 10 feet of steel-combination, made in Liverpool. Magnificent workmanship!"

Adelaide shook her head, looking between the two. "It can't be stopped. Don't die with us."

"No, because someone told me just recently, they said I was going to die. They said, he will knock four times, and I know what that means. And it doesn't mean right here, right now! 'Cos I don't hear anyone knocking, do you?!" There were three loud bangs from the door, the Doctor tensed as Daniel turned with wide eyes. "Three knocks is all you're getting!" he flashed the sonic to the door and there was a scream. "Water and electricity, bad mix. Now then, what else have we got?"

"But there's no way to fight them."

"Come Daniel, you went to high school what else can you do to fight water?" he ignored her, looking to his companion.

"Oh! Boil them! If they're made of water then we can boil them!" Daniel yelled, watching as the Doctor pressed some buttons on a nearby computer. "We boil them until there is nothing but steam!"

Adelaide watched them. "But you said we _die_!" She reminded the Doctor. "For the future, for the human race."

"Yes, because there are laws," the Doctor explained. "There are Laws of Time. Once upon a time there were people in charge of those laws, but they died. They _all_ died. Do you know who that leaves? Me! It's taken me all these years to realise the Laws of Time are mine and they _will_ obey me!"

The base shuddered again and Daniel was almost thrown to the floor hadn't it been for the Doctor catching him. They missed their helmets falling to the floor.

"Enviroment controls are down!" Adelaide yelled. "Sorry you two, it looks like history's got other ideas."

Daniel gave the Doctor a nod, letting the Time Lord know he was alright, so he stepped away from him. "Not beaten yet! I'll go outside! Look at the heat regulator while Daniel overloads the power to it," the Doctor picked up his helmet and sees that it's broken. "No, not beaten, not beaten!" he picked up Daniel's helmet and also sees that it's also broken, and threw it away. "You've got spacesuits, in the next section," the Doctor ran out the door but was stopped by water, he ran back. "We're not just fighting the Flood, we're fighting time itself and I'm gonna _win_!"

"Something's happening to the glacier." Yuri reported.

"Think, think, think-a think!" the Doctor groaned. "What have we got? Not enough oxygen! Protein-packs? Useless! Glacier, glacier mints, minty, Monty, molto bene, bunny, Bonny, bish-bash-bosh! Baaah!" he looked around the room. "The room, the room, look at the room! Section F, what's in Section F? Anyone?!"

"Nothing, it's just storage."

"Storing what?" Daniel asked, watching as the Doctor began to search for something.

"I don't know. The weather spikes, robots, atom clamps…"

"Atom clamps? Atom clamps?!" the Doctor exclaimed from a storage cabinet. "Who needs atom clamps? I love a funny robot!"

He opened a box, revealing… "Gadget-gadget."

The Doctor placed something in Gadget's pincer hand, patting it on the head. "You take that. Good boy."

"Gadget-gadget."

Daniel threw over a pair of gloves he had seen Roman use, the Doctor putting them on. "Off we go then!"

"Gadget-gadget."

With the two distracted, Adelaide brought up a warning screen on the computer.

"Come on, come on!" the Doctor muttered as he watched Gadget's visual feed.

Adelaide tapped on the keyboard. "Implementing Captain's protocol."

"What are you doing?" Daniel yelled, staring at her with wide eyes.

They were saving them! Adelaide shouldn't be going behind them to try and continue with the known flow of events, she should be helping them!

"Oh, my god," Mia breathed. "Action Five."

"If I have to fight you as well, then I will." The Doctor threatened.

Adelaide hit enter. "Nuclear device now active and primed," The computer informed them. "Nuclear device now active and primed."

The Doctor flashed the sonic screwdriver on Gadget's control panel. "Blast off!" he and Daniel watched as Gadget went turbo once more. "Faster!"

The base shuddered once more, Daniel gripped onto the Doctor's arm watching as the TARDIS came into view. Adelaide had fallen to the floor, watching them.

Behind them, Yuri used a fire extinguisher against the many small fires that have started. "Nuclear device entering final process."

Gadget raised its hand, unlocking the TARDIS with the key. "And we're in!" the Doctor and Daniel laughed, the human hugging him from the side.

From her position on the floor, Adelaide watched and shook her head.

The timer for the Action Five had reached 22 seconds when the TARDIS materialised.

They all ran inside, the TARDIS immediately began to pilot itself.

The base exploded just as the TARDIS faded away.

~DW~

The Doctor stepped out of the TARDIS, holding the door for Adelaide, Mia and Yuri to step out. They had landed on a street in London as Daniel stood in the doorway, a smile on his face.

"Isn't anyone going to thank me?" the Doctor asked expectedly, looking at the Bowie Base One survivors, Gadget rolled out of the TARDIS before shutting down. "He's lost his signal. Doesn't know where he is."

Adelaide looked around at the surroundings, frowning. "That's my house."

"Don't you get it? This is the 21st November 2059. Same day on Earth," he looked up at the sky. "And it's snowing. I love snow."

Mia looked at the TARDIS and then at the Doctor, fear in her eyes. "What is that thing? It's bigger… I mean, it's bigger on the inside! Who the hell are you?"

Mia turned and ran away, not caring where she went but as long as she got away from the Doctor and the TARDIS. Yuri stepped forward but stopped, hesitating, as he looks to Adelaide. "Look after her." Was all she said.

"Yes, ma'am." And with that, Yuri chased her down.

"You saved us." She walked towards the Doctor.

"Just think though. Your daughter, and your daughter's daughter, you can see them again," he grinned. "Family reunion!"

"But I'm supposed to be _dead_."

"Not anymore."

"But Susie, my granddaughter, the person she's supposed to become might never exist now."

"Nah! Captain Adelaide can inspire her face-to-face. Different details, but the story's still the same."

"You can't know that. And if my family changes, the whole of history could change. The future of the human race," she looked at him in horror, a realisation reaching. "No one should have that much power."

"Tough."

Daniel was surprised by the dark tone in the Doctor's voice. There was something… _different_ about the Doctor standing before Adelaide. He hadn't noticed it back on Bowie Base One, having been too focused on helping the Doctor save the crew members. This wasn't the same Doctor who had drove a bus through a wormhole to save humans he had never met or the Doctor who had introduced him to Sarah Jane Smith and allowed her son and friends to enter the TARDIS wasn't the man standing before him… this was something else.

"You should have left us there." Adelaide stepped back, startled by the darkness that filled the Doctor's eyes.

"Adelaide, I've done this sort of thing before, in small ways, saved some little people. But never someone as important as you… oh, I'm good!"

"Little people? What, like Mia or Yuri or even _Daniel_ ," the Doctor showed no emotion, no sign that he hadn't meant Daniel. "Who decides they're so unimportant? _You_?"

"For a long time now, I thought I was just a survivor, but I'm not. I'm the winner. That's who I am… the Time Lord Victorious."

"And there's no one to stop you?"

"No."

"This is wrong, Doctor. I don't care who you are. The Time Lord Victorious is wrong."

"That's for me to decide," in an instant, the Doctor's mood had changed from dark to cheerful. "Now, you'd getter get home. Oh, it's all locked up, you've been away. Still, that's easy," without looking, he pulled out the sonic and turned it on, unlocking the door. "All yours."

Adelaide walked past him but stopped and looked past him. "Is there nothing you can do?" She asked.

"Not anymore." The Doctor answered, assuming she had been speaking to him…

… but instead to Daniel, who looked confused as he shook his head. He had wanted to help the Doctor save them all so why should he try and stop the Doctor from _saving_ people? And it was then that Adelaide Brooke knew what she should do.

She walked up the steps of her house and gave the Doctor and Daniel one final look before she closed the door behind her. Neither of them noticed that she had drawn her gun as the Doctor had turned to face Daniel, a question on his lips as he walked back to the TARDIS.

Back in Adelaide's house there was a flash of blue followed by a gunshot. The Doctor spun around and looked at the house while Daniel let out a horrified shock, a hand flying to his mouth, as they both realised what they had done. The Doctor fell against the TARDIS door as time be rewritten around him. Adelaide would be reported of being found in her own home, Mia and Yuri would go on to tell the story of what Adelaide had done… and still Susie would be inspired by her grandmother's actions to journey into space.

"I've gone to far," the Doctor muttered, tears filling his eyes, he looked past the TARDIS as Ood-Sigma stood. A song echoed through the night, a song of sadness. "Is this it? My death? Is it time?" Ood-Sigma vanished, his question unanswered.

"I've gone too far," the Doctor muttered, tears filling his eyes as he looked past the TARDIS were Ood-Sigma stood. A song echoed through the night, a song of sadness, as Daniel slammed the TARDIS door shut… leaving the Doctor alone with the Ood. "Is this it? My death? Is it time?" Ood-Sigma vanished, his question unanswered.

The Doctor stumbled into the TARDIS, slamming the door shut. Standing by the console was Daniel, his back facing him as his shoulders shook, not wanting the Doctor to see the tears falling down his face.

He had allowed this to happen. Adelaide's blood rested on not only the Doctor's hand but also Daniel's, he had encouraged the Doctor to save Adelaide and the remaining crew… and now he was facing the consequences of their actions, no, _his_ actions. If this is what travelling with the Doctor was like then he wanted _no_ part in this anymore.

"Take me back." Daniel mumbled so quietly that the Doctor almost hadn't heard him. "Take me back, please."

To be continued…

A/N: Dun dun dun! On this note the ending will be continued in the last Original Chapter before the end of time.

Up next we will see what happens after the Waters of Mars. What will happen to Daniel and the Doctor? Does Daniel blame the Doctor or himself for saving the crew of Bowie Base One? Find out next week. I've been Landing and this is To Own His Hearts


	4. Heart to Hearts

A/N: So we reach our final original chapter before the Doctor regenerates. Ahhhh! I can't wait!

This chapter is heavy on flashbacks and has made me slam my head onto the desk repeatedly with how many times I rewritten this! I'm happy with how it is now but I sort of hope you like it, if not wait until Monday for the End of Time (Part One) for a story chapter.

Also sorry for this being later then usual but its here now and I hope it's worth the wait.

Disclaimer: look at _Planet of the Dead_

Breaking the Rule – Heart to Hearts

~DW~

Daniel watched as the Doctor moved around the console of the TARDIS as he waited for the all clear for him to leave the TARDIS and return to life back on Earth… is that what he wanted? He didn't even know who the Doctor was other then the fact he was an alien and he tried to save people even if they didn't know they needed saving.

Maybe he should leave! San Helios, while dangerous, wasn't up in his face until the very last minute and it had been _exciting_ then… trapped on an alien planet with nothing but the Doctor, a bus and handful of humans. But Mars was something different; Mars had shown him how dangerous it could be with the Doctor and honestly it was something the he had never considered. He thought it would be a laugh, he thought it would be just saving humans from an alien without having to worry about dying…

… But he knew, deep down he _knew_ , that he knew saving the human race from aliens would be dangerous. From planets in the sky to ghosts becoming metal men all across the globe he knew it was never going to be a walk in the park.

"Daniel," he turned at the sound of his name and saw the Doctor standing away from the console. "We've arrived… you can leave."

That was quick. He should go before he had any second thoughts… but he couldn't move. He'd regret it, leaving after his first proper trip, leaving before he could get a chance to see anything…

"I can't," Daniel began. "I don't think I can leave."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean… I don't know what I mean _but_ I think we need to talk before I leave."

The Doctor gave him a confused look. "Talk?"

"About _you_ and about me…" Daniel shrugged and stepped towards the TARDIS doors. "About Mars."

And he stepped out of the TARDIS and into the streets of London, the Doctor following.

~DW~

They had found themselves sat in a small café a few minutes from the TARDIS, Daniel sat with a coffee before him, neither of them speaking. "So…" the Doctor coughed. "What did you want to talk about?"

"Time Lord Victorious."

The Doctor sighed, slouching forward in his chair. "I don't _know_ ," he confessed. "I've never done something like that before."

"But you've done something like it before?"

"I'll show you," the Doctor moved the chair around the table so now they were directly opposite to each other. "Just relax your mind and if you think you've seen enough… just imagine a door closing and it'll stop."

Daniel gave him a confused look but allowed the Doctor to place his fingers to his temples and closed his eyes as the Doctor began to show him his past…

The runaway bride

Fires of Pompeii

The Family of Blood

 _~DW~_

 _The Doctor stood on a flight of stairs that overlooked a large hole in the ground as the Empresses of the Racnoss and Donna Noble watched. He had just stopped her pilot fish from firing on him._

 _"What did you do?" Donna Noble asked from the floor below him._

 _"Guess what I've got, Donna?" he produced a remote control from a pocket. "Pockets."_

 _"How did that fit in there?"_

 _"They're bigger on the inside."_

 _"Robo-forms are not necessary," the Empress cut in. "My children may feast on Martian flesh."_

 _"Oh, but I'm not from Mars." The playfulness having been wiped from the Doctor's voice, now very serious._

 _"Then where?"_

 _"My home planet is far away and long-since gone. But it's name lives on. Gallifrey."_

 _"They murdered the Racnoss!" the Empress exclaimed, rearing back._

 _"I warned you… you did this." He produced a handful of baubles from his pocket._

 _"No! No!" the empress screeched, panicking. "Don't! No!"_

 _The Doctor threw several handfuls of the baubles into the air. Some surrounded the Empress and some smash into the walls of the room, destroying them and letting the water of the River_ _Thames_ _rush through in torrents. Another bauble exploded causing a fire at the Empress' feet. She wailed as water flooded into the chamber and down the hole._

 _"My children!" the Empress cried as the Doctor just watched in silence. "No! My children! My children!"_

 _"Doctor! You can stop now!" Donna called up to him, her eyes wide._

 _But he couldn't stop! He watched the Racnoss writhe and wail in agony with dark eyes, full of pain…_

 _~DW~_

 _The Doctor stood behind a large plump man who was bound in chains while screaming before pushing him onto the floor, watching as the man screamed and tried to break out of the chains._

 _~DW~_

 _Now standing in the TARDIS, the Doctor watched as a woman was sucked out of the doors and out into a collapsing galaxy. No emotion on his face._

 _~DW~_

 _The Doctor looked into an ornate mirror somewhere in the TARDIS as a little girl peered out from behind an open door, scared of the man on the other side of the glass._

 _~DW~_

 _A man was tied up to a cross dressed in what looked to be a sack, a smirk on his face as the Doctor placed a hood over his head, before walking back to the TARDIS._

 _~DW~_

 _The Doctor and Donna arrived at a roman villa as Vesuvius began to erupt. A family sat huddled in the corner of the room, a man looked up at the Doctor as he entered. "Gods save us, Doctor!"_

 _The Doctor stared at them before heading into the TARDIS. "You can't!" Donna cried. "Doctor you can't! She followed him into the TARDIS, watching as he stood at the console of the box, preparing to leave_ _Pompeii_ _. "You can't just leave them!"_

 _"Don't you think I've done enough?" The Doctor questioned her. "History's back in place and everyone dies."_

 _"You've got to go back! Doctor," Donna sobbed. "I am telling you, take this thing back!" the Doctor pushed a lever as the TARDIS began to dematerialise, his face void of emotion, while Donna had tears streaming down her cheeks. "It's not fair."_

 _"No, it's not."_

 _"But your own planet, it burned."_

 _"That's just it. Don't you see, Donna?" He looked at her. "Can't you understand? If I could go back and save them then I would, but I can't! I can never go back! I can't! I just… can't!"_

 _~DW~_

 _Daniel stood on a hill underneath a red sky, an alien planet by hat he could tell, but it was under attack. Familiar saucers hovered in the sky as they fired down on the planet, it was the Daleks but it was worse then when they stolen the Earth… there was a flash of light in the distance, and Daniel had to cover his eyes. Dalek ships crashed down to the ground as shockwave moved through the planet while the grass at Daniel's feet caught fire as he watched as a wave of fire headed straight towards him…_

~DW~

He opened his eyes with a gasp as he found himself back in the café, the Doctor leaning back onto his chair as he stared at Daniel. The Doctor hadn't meant to show Daniel the destruction of Gallifrey, having meant to stop the link after Pompeii but something within Daniel's mind clung onto the link and forced his mind to open something he had hoped would never be uncovered.

"What was that?" Daniel shakily asked, wiping his eyes.

"How did you do that?" the Doctor instead asked.

They stared at each other for a moment before Daniel looked away, sniffling. "I don't _know_ it's your mind, shouldn't it be your fault?"

"No, you shouldn't have seen that… no one should have."

"But what was _it_?"

"That was Gallifrey… my world."

Daniel looked back at the Doctor, his eyes wide. "I'm sorry."

"You've got nothing to be sorry for."

They sat in an awkward silence before Daniel spoke up. "Who was she? The ginger woman?"

He had seen the woman twice in his mind and he hadn't mentioned her before. Had she been the old friend he had mentioned back on San Helios?

"Donna Noble was my best friend and I lost her."

"How did you lose her?"

"Back when the Earth had been moved me and my friends stopped the Daleks but… but Donna went through this thing called a meta crisis and she became part human part Time Lord," the Doctor rubbed a hand down his face, a sad look on his face. "It was unstable and it almost fried her mind but I… I wiped it."

"You wiped her mind?" Daniel asked.

"Yeah, I wiped her mind of all our adventures together and she forgot all about me."

"But surely you could bump into her on the street and talk to her?"

"I can't, if there was the slightest chance of her remembering me or anything we had done together… I can't risk it."

"Donna meant a lot then, didn't she?"

The Doctor nodded, tears in his eyes. "Yeah."

~DW~

After finishing his coffee, Daniel walked back with the Doctor to the TARDIS. The Doctor was expecting a goodbye but Daniel stepped inside and walked to the console. "One more stop," Daniel turned to the Doctor. "I've learnt about you and I think it's time to learn about me."

The Doctor stepped up to the console. "Where to?"

"Canary Wharf."

His eyes widened but he complied, piloting the TARDIS to Canary Wharf.

They stepped outside. The Doctor hadn't been near the area since he lost Rose… so why did Daniel want to come here?

"Growing up, my mother had to work many jobs," Daniel sighed as he led the way to the base of the old Torchwood building, now repurposed as an office building. "She never could stick at any job longer then 5 months until she found an add for a receptionist job in the newspaper for Torchwood, she'd always worked the mornings and would be home for the night, she was sworn to secrecy but she'd tell me about all the good Torchwood was doing for the world and she offered to show me something that they had been taught her…"

 _~DW~_

 _"Oh mum, you've got to be joking," Daniel scoffed as he poured his mom a glass of wine. "Psychic training?_

 _Lucy Young rolled her eyes. "I'm not joking Dan!" she laughed. "That's what we get taught, its like basic training."_

 _Daniel shook his head. "Honestly it sounds like you actually work with the X-Men."_

 _"Don't you want to learn it?" Lucy asked, nudging him slightly. "Be like that Jean Gray girl?"_

 _~DW~_

"I think that's how I managed to look into _your_ mind, I haven't thought about it but I guess I've still got that training," he continued. "Then that's when the ghosts became Cybermen and that was the last time I ever saw my mom again…"

 _~DW~_

 _Daniel was sat in his Nan's house, watching the news as they reported on the sudden appearance of the Cybermen. "Oh my stars!" his_ _Nan_ _whispered._

 _Daniel pulled out his phone, dialling his mother. "Come on… pick up," he muttered as he listened to the phone, desperate to hear his mom's voice. "Now isn't the time to leave it on silent."_

 _He screamed in frustration as it went to voicemail, throwing the phone onto a chair. "Oh Danny," his_ _Nan_ _breathed as the news report was quick turned off. "What are we gonna do?"_

 _"Upstairs!" he called, helping his_ _Nan_ _out of the chair and towards the stairs. "We'll hide upstairs."_

 _Behind them the front door slammed open and he turned to look at a Cyberman, who stood there, atop the stairs was another Cyberman… they were trapped! "You will stay in your homes," the Cyberman by the front door ordered. "You will wait for upgrading."_

 _Daniel and his_ _Nan_ _moved out of the way of the stairs as the Cyberman marched down the stairs and stood guard by the front door. "This broadcast is for human kind," a Cyberman appeared on the TV. "Cybermen now occupy every land mass on this planet. But you need not fear. Cybermen will remove fear, Cybermen will remove sex and class and colour and creed. You will become identical. You will become like us."_

 _The Cyberman remained outside the door and as Daniel looked out the window he could see the whole street was filled with Cybermen. They remained trapped in their own home until they were ready for an upgrade… whatever that meant. A few minutes had passed as Daniel sat with his_ _Nan_ _, comforting the shaking woman as best as he could, when he heard the marching of the Cybermen as they stepped away from the houses and down the street._

 _They were heading for_ _Canary_ _Wharf_ _! Daniel and the rest of the families on the street stepped out of their houses and watched. "Are they gone?" Daniel's_ _Nan_ _asked, as she stepped out from the house._

 _"Stay here,_ _Nan_ _," he looked over to his neighbour. "Keep an eye on her please."_

 _Before either of them could answer… Daniel was running down the street, keeping his distance from the Cybermen. "Danny! Come back!" His_ _Nan_ _cried as he watched._

 _He needed to find his mom and if they were heading to_ _Canary_ _Wharf_ _then it meant something was going on… he just hoped he wasn't too late._

 _~DW~_

"I had seen what happened when a Dalek killed someone but with the Cybermen there was nothing, the only bodies they found were found because a Dalek shot them so I put two and two together and assumed that the Cybermen had done something to her body, we couldn't do anything

 _~DW~_

 _Daniel stood with his_ _Nan_ _and a few of his friends at the time as they watched a coffin be lowered into the ground. His mother had always wanted to be cremated, but without a body to cremate they had to settle with an empty casket._

 _~DW~_

They stopped at a large memorial plaque surrounded by flowers and a fountain, Daniel had tears in his eyes as he spotted Lucy's name on the plaque. He hadn't bought flowers here for a couple of years, instead leaving flowers by her gravestone, he didn't think he'd want to be here but the Doctor had showed him his past and told him about Donna it would be fair if he told the Doctor about himself.

"I don't blame you for what happened with Adelaide." Daniel said, surprising the Doctor.

"Y-You don't?"

"No… I blame myself," the Doctor frowned. "You told me what was going to happen, you told me that there was nothing you could do… and yet I asked, I asked you if you could do _anything_ for them."

"You…"

"You can say it's not my fault," Daniel cut in. "You can tell me that you would have done it without me asking… but it won't change the fact that it happened _after_ I asked."

"Why are you telling me this?"

"Because… because I'm trying to open up to you," he shrugged. "I'm trying to distract myself from making a stupid mistake that I'm gonna regret later."

"What mistake?"

"Leaving the TARDIS, leaving you… I'd hate to think what you'd be like without someone by your side."

The Doctor's eyes widened as a smile began to grow on his face. "Are you saying that you're gonna stay?"

"Yes," the Doctor opened his mouth to say something but Daniel held up a hand. "Only on the condition that if there is something wrong about the place we're in, you tell me before we get too involved in the situation, so we can leave _together_ ," he held the hand for the Doctor to shake. "Do we have a deal?"

The Doctor grinned.

A/N: Okay, happy end before the Doctor and Daniel before the End of Time.

Here are some answers to reviews:

I rewatched the Waters of Mars when I was writing again for the first time in like, forever, and I had forgotten how dark the Doctor had gotten when he saved everyone on Bowie Base One. I think everyone who watched that episode was scared of Time Lord Victorious.

I thought I had put who I pictured Daniel to be and I hadn't so I'm sorry but I picture Grant Gustin to be Daniel. I know, I love reading fanfics of the Doctor with a Time Lady which is honestly one of the reasons I got into writing Fanfiction, but there aren't enough the Doctor/Male!OC. I forget sometimes that the TARDIS does have a mind of her own and does show whether she likes a companion or not (Clara and the TARDIS is a great example of the TARDIS disliking a companion)

Up next is the End of Time (Part One). How has the Doctor and Daniel changed in the time that has passed since this chapter? What will Daniel think of the Master and how will Wilf feel about the Doctor travelling with another companion after Donna? Find out Monday. Until next time, I've been Landing and this is Breaking the Rule.


	5. The End of Time (Part One)

A/N: And so now we reach the penultimate chapter before Daniel meets the Eleventh Doctor and then everything changes between them. There will be some references to comic stories told in Titan Comics Doctor Who: The Tenth Doctor along with references to other stories told in books and novella's.

Disclaimer: see _Planet of the Dead_

~DW~

Breaking the Rule – The End of Time (Part One)

Daniel gasped awake; his eyes wide as he pushed himself up into a sitting position in his bed. "It was just a dream…" he muttered to himself, running a hand through his hair as he took some deep breaths. "It's nothing, even if you've had the dream before."

It was true, it had been the fourth night in a row he had had that same dream, but it didn't mean anything… surely not! If he had believed that olds story his mum had told him that if you dream about something more then once it would come true then he would be dating Zac Efron and living a life of fame and fortune in Los Angeles.

Pushing the covers off him, he trudged out of his bedroom and down the hall to the kitchen. In the kitchen sat the Doctor, who sat at the small dining table with a cup of tea in front of him. "Morning." The Doctor grinned.

They been travelling together for 9 months now and something had changed between them, they both knew it but they _didn't_ know what had changed. The TARDIS also hummed, the lights brightening for a moment before returning to their original brightness. "Morning," Daniel mumbled, taking the tea from the other. "What's on the agenda today?"

Taking a sip of his tea, he waited for the Doctor to say something, but he sat there with the grin. "You know how you've been going on about having a holiday." The Doctor began.

"Yes."

"Well I was thinking that you should pilot the TARDIS to a preset destination."

"Wait, why should I pilot the TARDIS?"

"Because you've been practicing and this time it shouldn't be so bad by yourself."

It was true, the Doctor and the TARDIS had taken it upon themselves to teach Daniel to pilot the TARDIS correctly. It hadn't been a small feat, Daniel was learning through the Doctor and even with the TARDIS assisting him, and everyone knew how terrible the Doctor's piloting skills were.

"But what has this got to do with me asking for a holiday?"

The Doctor shrugged and stood from the table. "Finish your tea, get changed into something for warm weather and meet me in the console room."

And with that the Doctor was gone, leaving Daniel alone. "Do you have any idea where we're going?" he asked the TARDIS.

There was no reply which he took as a reply of yes.

~DW~

Daniel stepped into the console room 10 minutes later, dressed in a white linen shirt, blue linen shorts and black flip flops. The Doctor hummed in approval and he rolled his eyes. "Right," the Doctor grinned. "Are you ready?"

"Never am, but when has that ever stopped you?" Daniel replied, smirking.

It was the Doctor's turn to roll his eyes as he watched Daniel step up to the console. "Remember, if you get stuck, I'm nearby."

"Do _not_ back seat pilot me… again!"

And with that they were off, Daniel pulled a lever and watched as the rotor began to move before going around the console pressing buttons and flicking switches as he went. It wasn't as fast paced as when the Doctor did, but he knew what to do without having to worry about the TARDIS exploding, the box wheezing and groaning as it moved through the vortex.

The Doctor watched on with a smile, sat on the chair. They had been through so much since then, they'd battled the Weeping Angels in World War One, stopped a Nestene Consciousness from an alternate universe, Daniel managed to fight off a creature known as Ebonite who tried to possess him and destroy his mind, stopped the Carrionites from killing men in a small English village and even faced surviving a group of Cybermen who hadn't been sucked into the void after Canary Wharf.

They had been through so much together that they had changed together, no more was the Doctor in his sad state of mind after losing Donna and Daniel had moved on f

They had been through so much together that the friendship between them had changed. The routine they had in the mornings was something he never had with another companion, they were always close in proximity to one another and they didn't notice half the time until Daniel trips over his foot.

It might have been intentional; it always allowed him to catch him before he fell. Gods how strange it felt to be falling for a human… he hadn't felt this way since Rose but maybe the fact he hadn't told Rose how he had felt was the reason he was now. He didn't want to lose Daniel without being able to tell him how he felt.

The TARDIS groaned in response to Daniel doing something wrong, which pulled the Doctor out of his thoughts, but he quickly corrected it muttering an apology to the box. This continued for a few more minutes before the TARDIS materialised at their set location.

Without needing to do a check, the Doctor clicked his fingers and the doors opened allowing sunlight to seep into the TARDIS. Flashing each other a grin, they ran out into the sunlight, the TARDIS closing the doors herself.

"Welcome to the spaceship Hawaii!" the Doctor gestured out to beach before them. "Earth was threatened by solar flares so many of the countries created entire Starships around the country, Hawaii, London, Scotland, Wales all took to the skies," Daniel looked around at the scenery. "Hawaii once again became a tourist spot for aliens and humans alike, but with strict rules it's become a peaceful place."

The beach they had landed on was peaceful despite the crowd of human and aliens but it was beautiful, the sound of waves crashing against the sand was calming and relaxing. "I honestly expected to be held at gunpoint." Daniel admitted with a smile.

The Doctor laughed, reaching into his pockets to pull out a pink lei and a straw hat. "I think I'm gonna enjoy this." he placed the straw hat on his head and handed the lei to Daniel.

And enjoy it they did.

Daniel had set out to find them a good spot to place their towels while the Doctor stepped back inside the TARDIS to collect the essentials. The Doctor had traded his brown pinstrip suit for something more comfortable in the heat, wearing a dark blue tank top and cream coloured linen shorts. Daniel had been stood by two sun loungers when the Doctor had arrived and he almost dropped the towels when he saw Daniel without his shirt on...

He tried to ignore the fact that his cheeks felt quite hot and blamed it on the artificial sun but Daniel didn't notice. "Took you long enough!" Daniel laughed, pulling a pair of sunglasses out of his pocket. "I was worried you took the TARDIS and ditched me here."

"I would _never_ do that…" He laughed but Daniel gave him a look. "Again." He corrected himself.

And with that their little holiday began. They spent some time on the sun loungers together before Daniel had gone running into the sea, waving to the Doctor to join him.

They didn't notice that a few of the other couples that walked by whispered to one another about how sweet it was to see such a happy couple. Daniel had been laughing with a human woman and her alien husband, a humanoid looking man with gills on his neck with a dorsal fin instead of hair.

It had been fun… fun until Daniel spotted someone staring at him from a distance. Daniel had been drinking a cocktail of sorts, lying on a sun lounger while the Doctor had decided to take a swim in the sea. It was an Ood, in particular it was Ood-Sigma.

He remembered meeting the Ood twice before but no one else seemed to see the Ood. "He must come." The Ood's voice echoed at him. "The Doctor and his phoenix must come."

Ood-Sigma faded away and Daniel knew his holiday was over then and there, with a sigh he finished his cocktail and made his way to the Doctor and told him what had happened.

~DW~

They stepped out of the TARDIS and out onto a snowy plain, Daniel had changed out of his beach clothes into a black v-neck shirt, ripped jeans, running shoes with a grey beanie and due to the cold weather a black winter coat. Daniel wasn't amused to be pulled away from Hawaii, despite the urgency of the call.

Ood-Sigma stood outside, waiting for them. "Ah! Now! Sorry!" The Doctor called out, dressed in his usual brown pinstripe suit. "There you are. So, where were we? I, _we_ , were summoned, weren't we? An Ood, in the snow, calling for us," they walked towards Ood-Sigma. "Well, we didn't come straight here. Had a bit of fun, y'know, travelled about, did this and that. Got into trouble, Daniel bailed me out unless it was him in trouble. It was brilliant. We saw the Phosphorous Carousel of the Great Magellan Gestadt. Saved a planet from the Red Carnivorous Maw. Daniel named a galaxy Alison. Daniel almost got married. Almost caused a war that did," Daniel flushed red. "Empress of the Hyspero didn't take it well."

"Moving on from that," Daniel cut in, not wanting to relive that memory once more. "You interrupted my holiday." He pouted, pointing a warning finger at Ood-Sigma.

"My apologise but you should not have delayed." Ood-Sigma said, the light in his ball flashing as he spoke.

"The last time I was here, you said my song would be ending soon," the Doctor reminded him, hands in his pockets. "And I'm in no hurry for that."

"The Doctor and his phoenix will come with me."

In all the times Daniel had met the Ood, they only referred to him as the Phoenix, but the Doctor had explained that they had a similar physic connection to Carmen and had predicted the same thing. He had gotten used to it, but still it was a bother.

"Hold on, better lock the TARDIS," the Doctor reached into his pocket and pulled out the TARDIS key and pointed it at the blue box. There was a beeping sound, similar to a car door locking. "See? Like a car. I locked it like a car," Ood-Sigma and Daniel just stared at him, Daniel still couldn't find an explanation as to why he had done that. "Like… it's funny. No? Little bit? Blimey, try to make an Ood laugh."

"I apologise for him." Daniel shook his head, giving Ood-Sigma a smile, before following Ood-Sigma. "How old are you now, Ood-Sigma?"

"Ah! Magnificent!" the Doctor had spotted a city caved from stone and ice. "Oh, come on! That is… splendid! You've achieved all this in how long?" he nudged the Ood.

"100 years." Ood-Sigma replied.

The Doctor frowned. "Then we've got a problem, 'cos all of this is way too fast. Not just the city, I mean your ability to call me. Reaching all the way back to the 21st century and again in the 39th century, even Daniel saw you this time. Something's accelerating your species way beyond normal."

"And the Mind of the Ood is troubled."

"Why? What's happened?" Daniel asked, concerned.

"Every night, Phoenix. Every night, we have bad dreams."

The Doctor and Daniel tensed at that for different reasons. The Doctor tensed because he didn't know it was possible for Ood to get bad dreams, especially every night, while Daniel tensed at the though of his own nightmares.

Ood-Sigma continued to guide them into a cavern of sorts. "Returning, returning, returning, it is slowly returning," they saw a group of Ood gathered around a small table, breathing in incense. "Through the dark and the fire and the blood, always returning, returning to this world. It is returning and he is returning and they are returning, but too late, too late, far too late, he is come."

"Sit with the Elder of the Ood and share the dreaming." Ood-Sigma instructed them.

Daniel and the Doctor shared a glance with each other. "So… right," they sat beside each other in the open spots in the circle. "Hallo!" the Doctor grinned.

"You will join," the elders began to chant. "You will join. You will join. You will join. You will join. You will join. You will join."

They held hands, forming a circle, allowing the Doctor to see the face that was haunting Daniel and the Ood's dreams… it was the Master's laughing. "He comes to us, every night," the Elder-Ood began. "I think all the peoples of the universe dream of him now… even your precious phoenix has suffered."

The Doctor let go of the hand of the Ood but held onto Daniel's, fear clear on his face. "That man is dead." He informed them all.

"There is yet more. Join us," the Doctor took the hand of the Ood once again, squeezing Daniel's hand gently. "Events are taking shape, so many years ago, and yet changing now. There is a man…" they heard the Master laugh once more before they saw Wilfred Mott, Donna's grandfather, sat at the kitchen table, terribly concerned. "So scared…"

"Wilfred! Is he all right?" the Doctor quickly cut in. "What about Donna, is she safe?"

"You should not have delayed, for the lines of convergence are being drawn across the Earth, even now. The king is in his counting house."

There was a flash of a well-off black couple, stood in a room. Daniel frowned, there was something familiar about the black man…

"And there is another. The most lonely of all, lost and forgotten."

There was another flash this time of Lucy Saxon in a cell, crying.

"The Master's wife." The Doctor let go again of the Ood's hand.

"We see so much, but understand little," Ood-Sigma spoke up from behind. "The woman in the cage, who is she?"

"She was… it w-wasn't her fault, she was… the Master, he's a Time Lord, like me. I can show you," the Doctor took the Ood's hand and projected his memories from the Year That Never Was onto the Ood and Daniel. "The Master took the name Saxon. He married a human, a woman called Lucy. And he corrupted her. She stood at his side when he conquered the Earth. I reversed everything he'd done, so it never even happened. But Lucy Saxon remembered. I held him in my arms. I burnt his body… the Master is _dead_!"

"And yet, you did not see…" the Elder-Ood pulled them into a vision, showing the Doctor the funeral pyre he had made to burn the Master.

"What's that?" Daniel asked, frowning as noticed a ring on the floor.

They watched as a woman picked up the ring and carefully held it in her palm. "Part of him survived," the Doctor breathed, fearful. "We have to go!" he tried to stand, trying to break free of the Ood's hold.

"But something more is happening," the Elder continued. "The Master is part of a greater design, because a shadow is falling over creation. Something vast is stirring in the dark," the circle of Ood looked up, all their eyes red. "The Ood have gained this power to see through time because time is bleeding. Shapes of thing once lost are moving through the veil. And these events from years ago threaten to destroy this future. And the present and the past."

"What do you mean?"

"This is what we have seen. The darkness heralds only one thing, the end of time itself. Event that have happened are happening now."

The moment the Ood released their hands, the Doctor and Daniel ran from the cavern and back onto the surface and as fast as they could back to the TARDIS. While the Doctor searched his pockets for the key to unlock it, Daniel clicked his fingers watching as the doors swung open and they entered and immediately worked on the console as they desperately made their way through the vortex. The console began to spark as they worked it furiously.

Large sparks blew out from the console as smoke began to rise, Daniel winced as he barely managed to miss being nicked by the sparks, and the Doctor continued to try and make the TARDIS go faster then it already was.

The TARDIS shook violently as they finally landed and they rushed out.

The prison was in ruins. The Doctor stood in the street, looking around.

He had been too late. Daniel placed a hand on his arm, a determined look on his face.

They were going to find the Master.

~DW~

The Doctor and Daniel stood atop a pile of dirt as they looked out onto a shipyard. The Doctor inhaled deeply, they had followed the Master's sent to the site, while Daniel looked through the area with a pair of binoculars.

In the distance there were four loud bangs.

The Doctor looked in the direction they sounded from, the banging continued twice before they ran towards them. The banging got louder the closer they came to the center of the yard. They ran through the discarded girders and ran up large ridge of dirt where they saw the Master. He let out an unnatural roar before leaping into the air, they chased after him, until he stood atop a pile of girders. The Master laughed, his face flashing to show the skeleton beneath.

"Please, let me help!" the Doctor yelled. "You're burning up your own life force."

With a laugh the Master jumped down from the girders, the men prepared to follow but were stopped by Wilf. "Oh, my gosh, Doctor!" the old man grinned. "You're a sight for sore eyes."

Daniel climbed up onto the girders to try and spot the Master, but he was long gone. "He got away." He muttered to the Doctor, who sighed.

"Did we do it?" A elderly man joined Wilf, followed closely by other elderly people. "Is that him?"

"Tall and thin, big brown coat." Another man nodded.

Daniel dropped down from the girders, stumbling as he landed but was stabilised by the Doctor holding his arms.

"The Silver Cloak, it worked!" A woman cheered. "Cos Wilf phoned Netty, who phoned June, and her sister lives opposite Broadfell, and she saw the police box, and _her_ neighbour saw two men heading east."

They stepped away from each other as the Doctor turned to face Wilf. "Wilfred? Have you told them who I am? You promised!"

"No, I just said you were a doctor, that's all," Wilf shrugged. "And might I say, sir, it is an honour to see you again."

He saluted the Doctor, who returned the salute with a wry smile and two fingers to his forehead. "Oh, but you never said he was a looker!" the same woman eyed the Doctor with a smirk. "He's gorgeous, take a photo!" she handed the camera to a man.

"His mate isn't to bad either." The man said as he took the camera from her.

"No, very nice." They all agreed, Daniel blushing while the Doctor just looked confused.

"Me next!" The man with the camera teased, winking at Daniel.

"I'm Minnie. Minnie the Menace," the woman introduced herself, shoving Daniel aside so she could stand beside the Doctor. "It's a long time since I had a photo with a handsome man." Daniel gave her a amused look as he found himself being moved around as the group piled in for the picture.

"Just get off him, leave him alone, will you?" Wilf called to them as he stood on the side.

"Hush, you old misery," Minnie waved him off. "Come on, Doctor. Give us a smile," she reached up to pinch his cheeks as the Doctor gave a tense and toothy smile. "That's it."

"Hold on," the camera clicked. "Did it flash?"

"No, there's a blue light, try again."

"Do you need a hand?" Daniel asked, wanting to get away from the elderly group.

"No I'm fine sweetheart," the man winked at him again. "Wouldn't want you to miss out on the photo."

"We're really kind of busy, y'know?" the Doctor tried to leave but Minnie held on tightly.

"Oh, it won't take a tick. Keep smiling." She assured him.

The Doctor tensed as he felt her hand go down from his waist to his bottom where she goosed him. "Is that you HAND, Minnie?!" He jerked away from her.

"Good boy." She patted his bum.

The Doctor sent a glare over to the laughing Daniel, who only pointed at his face and continued to laugh.

~DW~

Wilf, the Doctor and Daniel stepped off the bus. "Come on, then. Here we are, hurry up," Wilf called, waving to the bus as it left. "Bye. You behave, bye."

Daniel and the Doctor waved goodbye also, Minnie blowing a kiss to the Doctor, who almost stepped behind Daniel as it the kiss was going to attack him. Wilf crossed the street towards a café. "Over here, come on." Wilf waved them over.

"What's so special about this place?" the Doctor asked as they followed from behind. "We passed 15 cafes on the way."

"Yeah," Wilf entered the café, offering the staff a smile. "Afternoon," he led the them to a table by the window. "I'm Wilfred, by the way." He introduced himself to Daniel, holding a hand for Daniel to take.

"Daniel. Daniel Young," He took Wilf's hand, shaking it with a smile. "The Doctor's spoken about you."

"All good things I hope."

"Only the best things."

The Doctor nodded at Wilf when he gave him a surprised look. "Oh, we had some good times, didn't we, though? I mean, all those Atmos things and planets in the sky and me with that paint gun," he imitated a gun. "I keep seeing things, Doctor, I… this face at night."

"Who are you?" The Doctor suddenly asked, watching closely.

"I'm Wilfred Mott."

"No, people have waited hundreds of years to find me and then you manage it in a few hours."

"Well, I'm just lucky, I s'pose."

"No, we keep on meeting, Wilf. Over and over again, like something's still connecting us."

"Yeah, but what's so important about me?"

Daniel looked between the two men and stood up. "I'll give you two a moment alone." He patted the Doctor on the shoulder as he walked away, allowing the two old friends to speak.

He smiled at Daniel before looking at Wilf. "I'm going to die."

"Well, so am I, one day."

"Don't you _dare_."

"All right, I'll try not to."

"But I was told 'he will knock four times'," he took a moment, feeling himself becoming emotional. "That was the prophecy. Knock four times, and then…"

"But I thought when I saw you before, you said your people could change, like, your whole body."

"I can still die. If I'm killed before regeneration, then I'm dead," he leant forward, elbows on the table. "Even then. Even if I change, it feels like dying. Everything I am _dies_. Some new man goes sauntering away… and I'm dead."

He tried to not let it bother him. He had done it so many times now but recently he found himself hating the idea of the image of him dying and some man walking away in the TARDIS, Daniel following. It shouldn't bother him, he'd get to live to save the Earth another day but the idea of Daniel walking off with some other man almost broke his hearts he didn't know why… he did but he wouldn't allow it to happen again.

"Hmm." Wilf hummed, pulling him out of his thoughts, as he looked out the window.

"What?" he thought he might have missed something but followed Wilf's gaze to see Donna stood outside. "Oh."

"I'm sorry. But I had to. Look, can't you make her better."

"Stop it."

"No, but you're so clever. Can't you bring her memory back? Look, just go to her now, go on. Just run across the street. Go up and say hello."

Daniel stepped back into view, a to-go cup in his hand. His eyes widened when he saw Donna. "If she remembers me, her mind will burn and she _will_ die!" the Doctor reminded.

A door closed and they looked to see Donna confronting a meter attendant. "Don't you _touch_ this car!" Donna yelled, pointing a warning finger at the attendant.

They all shared a laugh. "She's not changed."

"Nah, oh, there he is…" a young man joined Donna carrying her shopping bags. "Shaun Temple. They're engaged. Getting married in the spring." Wilf explained to them.

"Another wedding." Daniel almost laughed, remembering the story of her first wedding.

"Yeah." Wilf smiled at him.

"Hold on, she's not gonna be called Noble-Temple?" The Doctor had to ask. "Sounds like a tourist spot."

"No, it's Temple-Noble."

"Right. Is she happy? Is he nice?"

"Yeah, he's sweet enough. He's a bit of a dreamer," he assured him. "Mind you, he's on minimum wage, she's earning tuppence, so all they can afford is a tiny little flat. And then sometimes I see this look on her face. Like she's so sad, but she can't remember why."

"She's got him."

"She's making do."

"Aren't we all?"

"Yeah, how about you? Who have you got?"

Daniel smiled. "He's got me," Daniel said, sitting beside the Doctor. "Nine months together now and he's showed me so much… we've had our ups and downs," Wilf smiled as he watched the Doctor smile softly. "A while ago _we_ did something wrong but… we're better now."

Had they noticed that the way Daniel spoke was similar to the way someone would talk about a relationship? No, they didn't but Wilf _did_.

As he had been watching them, he could tell there was a connection between them, it almost reminded him of how Donna and the Doctor had been when they had been together but it there was something he couldn't put his finger on finger on…

"Well I'm glad," Wilf spoke. "I'm glad your not alone… no one should be alone."

"Truly," the Doctor grinned. "Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas." Daniel smiled.

They waited a moment, watching Donna drive away with Shaun, before they stood, the Doctor giving Wilf a smile while Daniel shook his had once again, before they stepped out into the street and back to the TARDIS.

~DW~

They stood upon a pile of dirt near a derelict warehouse; the TARDIS had tracked the Master to this location. The Doctor had wanted Daniel to stay in the TARDIS, away from the Master, but Daniel had refused instead promising he'll keep his distance if the Master attacked.

The Doctor took the lead, heading down the pile of dirt with Daniel in tow, as he entered the warehouse. He pointed to a large blue skip which Daniel stood behind. The Master looked over his shoulder, dropping the bone had been gnawing on, and turned to face him. The Master held his hands out and electricity crackled between them. He shot a beam of energy that just barely missed the Doctor, he kept walking, the Master fired again and watched as it missed the Doctor once again. The Master rubbed his hands together, building up his power, this time he fired from both hands and hit the Doctor in the chest. The Doctor winced and continued to move forward until the Master stopped.

He fell to his knees and the Master grabs him so they are face-to-face but let go and watched as the Doctor fell face first into the dirt, but turned to the blue skip. "You can step out from behind the skip," the Master called out. "Come and save your _precious_ Doctor."

Taking a deep breath, Daniel stepped out from behind the skip, hands in the air as he approached them. The Master aimed one hand in his direction, the threat clear to them all, as he looked down at the Doctor. "I had estates. Do you remember my father's land, back home?" the Master asked the Doctor. "Pastures of red grass stretching far across the slopes of Mount Perdition… we used to run across those fields all day, calling up at the sky," he sighed and sat on the ground, Daniel was within arms reach now. "Look at us now."

"All that eloquence. But how many people have you killed?" The Doctor asked, wincing as Daniel moved him into a sitting position.

"I am _so_ hungry."

"Your resurrection went wrong. That energy… your body's ripped open. Now you're killing yourself."

"And that's human Christmas out there," the Master continued, ignoring the Doctor. "They eat so much. All that roasting meat, cakes and red wines. Hot, fat, blood food. Pots, plates of meat and flesh and grease and juice. And baking, burnt, sticky hot skin. Hot! It's so hot!"

Daniel turned slightly green as he listened. "Stop it!" the Doctor glared.

"Slice! Slice!"

"Stop it!"

"It's mine! It's mine! It's mine! It's mine! Eat it! Eat it! Eat it! Eat it!"

"Stop it!" the Master took a deep breath to try and control himself. "What if I ask for help? There's more at work tonight than you and me."

"Oh yeah?"

"We were told something is returning."

"And here I am!"

"No, it was something more."

"But it hurts." The Master held his head.

"We were told the end of time…"

"It hurts, Doctor, the noise," the Master cut in. "The noise in my head, Doctor, one, two, three, four, one, two, three, four, stronger than ever before! Can't you hear it?"

"I'm sorry." He shook his head.

"Listen, listen, listen, listen! Every minute, every second, every beat of my hearts, there it is… calling to me. Please, listen." He crawled to Doctor and Daniel.

"I can't hear it."

"Listen."

The Master grabbed the Doctor's had in his hands before pressing their foreheads together. The Doctor gasped and pulled away. "What is it?" Daniel asked, concerned.

"But that's!" The Doctor frowned, fear in his eyes.

"What?" the Master asked.

"I heard it. But there's no noise, there never has been, it's just your insanity, it's the… what is it? What's inside your head?"

The Master stood and laughed. "It's real! It's real! It's REAL!" they watched as the Master launched himself into the sky and the Doctor, while leaning on Daniel for support, chased after him. "All these years, you thought I was mad. King of the wastleland. But something is calling me, Doctor, what is it? What is it? What is it?"

A beam of light fell onto the Master as he stood on a large pile of dirt and rock, the whirring blades of a helicopter could be heard above them, while another beam shined on the Doctor and Daniel. Lines were thrown down and two men rappel down, tranquilising the Master. "Don't!" Daniel called up to them.

Two other soldiers fired their rifles at the ground at his feet, not wanting the risk of him stopping them. "Let him go!" The Doctor also yelled.

Two soldiers stepped behind the pair, using the distraction to first knock Daniel out with the butt of their gun. The Doctor caught Daniel before he could fall, his eyes wide as he too was knocked out, leaving the pair atop each other unconscious in the rubble.

~DW~

The Doctor stepped out of TARDIS outside of Wilf and Sylvia Noble's house. Daniel was still unconscious as he laid on the TARDIS floor, the Doctor using his own coat as a cushion of sorts.

Through the windows at the front of the house he could see Donna and Sylvia, speaking to one another while Shaun came in with a box in his hand. Wilf was nowhere to be seen which meant he was either upstairs or out back… he hoped Wilf was upstairs as he began to throw pebbles against a bedroom window. The man appeared in the window and the Doctor nodded back to the TARDIS.

Wilf stepped out the front door and met the Doctor by the TARDIS. "We lost him, we were unconscious," the Doctor began. "He's still on Earth. I can smell him, but he's too far away."

"Listen, you can't park there, what if Donna sees it?" Wilf asked, gesturing to the TARDIS.

"You're the only one, Wilf. The only connection I can think of. You're involved. If I could work out how," he shook his head as he tried to focus on the situation at hand. "Tell me, have you seen anything? I don't know. Anything strange, anything odd?"

"Well, there was…"

"What? What is it? Tell me."

"Well, there was… no, it's nothing."

"Think, think, think! Maybe something out of the blue. Connected to your life, something."

"Well, Donna was a bit strange. She had funny little moment, this morning, all because of that book."

"What book?"

~DW~

Wilf stepped out of the house holding a book which he gave to the Doctor. "Here you are, his name's Joshua Naismith." Wilf tapped the cover of the book.

"That's man," the Doctor breathed. "Me and Daniel were shown him, by the Ood."

"By the what?" Wilf frowned, looking around for Daniel. "Hang on a second, where is he?"

He hadn't noticed it before; too concerned with Donna seeing the TARDIS as well as the Doctor questioning him, but Daniel was no where in sight. The Doctor did say 'we were unconscious' so did that mean Daniel had gotten hurt.

"He's in the TARDIS, fine, but slowly recovering," the Doctor sighed. "He's only human so it'll take time for him to wake up. The TARDIS has scanned him and he'll only suffer from slight bruising."

"Who the hell would do that?" Wilf asked, frowning.

Despite having only met him yesterday afternoon, Wilf knew that Daniel didn't deserve to be knocked out by someone.

"I don't know but I think _he's_ got something to do with it," the Doctor shrugged, tapping the picture of Joshua Naismith. "But it's all part of the convergence, maybe… maybe touching Donna's subconscious," he smiled slightly. "Oh, she's still fighting for us, even now. The Doctor-Donna."

"Dad, what are you up to?" Sylvia stepped outside, having heard her father speaking, and gasped as she saw the Doctor. "You! But… get out of here!"

"Merry Christmas." The Doctor smiled to her.

"Merry Christmas. But she can't see you! What if she remembers?"

"Mum, where are those tweezers?" Donna asked from inside the house.

"Go!"

"I'm going."

"Yeah, me, too." Wilf grinned and followed the Doctor back out into the street.

"Oh, no, you don't!" Sylvia followed them as well. "Dad, I'm warning you!" She glared at the man.

"Bye, see you later."

"Stay right where you are!"

The Doctor unlocked the TARDIS. "You can't come with me."

"You're _not_ leaving me with her." Wilf quietly said, glancing back to his daughter.

"Dad!" Sylvia cried.

"Fair enough." The Doctor shrugged, stepping inside the TARDIS with Wilf.

The doors closed behind them as Daniel, now conscious, moved the TARDIS off the street and into the vortex. "You feeling alright?" the Doctor asked, making his way to Daniel's side.

"The TARDIS scan said I'm fine but you already know that," Daniel smiled. "What did I miss?"

"Naismith!" He passed the book to Daniel so he could see the cover. "We can track him down," he looked over at Wilf looking bemused at the TARDIS. "Ah. Right. Yes. Bigger on the inside. D'you like it?"

"I thought it'd be cleaner." Wilf shrugged, Daniel laughed as he opened the book and flicked through the pages.

"Cleaner? I could take you back home, right now."

"Listen, if this is a time machine – that man you're chasing why can't you just pop back to yesterday and catch him?"

"We can't go back on our own timelines," Daniel answered. "We'd disrupt the flow of time and possibly fracture the destroy all of time as we know it… so we need to stay within the current flow of time," the Doctor and Wilf just stared at him, the Doctor impressed and Wilf clueless. "What? I listen."

The Doctor laughed, shaking Wilf's hand. "Welcome aboard."

"Thank you." Wilf laughed.

~DW~

Daniel, the Doctor and Wilf stepped out of the TARDIS and into some stables.

"We've moved! We've really moved!" Wilf breathed, looking around at his new surroundings.

"You should both stay here." The Doctor stated.

"Not bloody likely!" Wilf stated.

"No way in hell!" Daniel huffed.

"And don't swear, hold on," the Doctor pulled the key out of his pocket and pointed it at the TARDIS, they watched as it dematerialised. "Just a second out of sync. Don't want the Master finding the TARDIS, that's the last thing we need."

They exited the stables and onto the gardens of the Naismith manor, keeping close to the walls. They started to go through an archway but hide when they saw two armed guards walk by. "The TARDIS databank said that he's a billionaire made his money selling a phone called Neon," Daniel informed them. "Said he employed mercenaries… but why capture the Master?"

The Doctor shrugged. "Same reason Henry van Statten did to anything alien, find a way to exploit it," he looked for a way in, spotting a small door in the wall. "Down there."

He flashed the sonic at the small door; it swung open allowing them access to the building, Wilf closing it behind them, leading into a corridor. They continued down a corridor until they heard a woman speaking. "The man's a miracle. All the systems are slotting back into place. The shatter threads have harmonised and the multiple overshots have triplicated."

They peered around the corner to see a short blonde woman wearing a white lab coat looking at a computer screen; they could see some unusual symbols on the screen she was looking at.

"Hi!" The Doctor and Daniel called as they stepped into the room. "Nice Gate!" the Doctor continued.

"Hello." Wilf waved.

"Look, sorry, don't call security or I'll tell them you're wearing a Shimmer," The Doctor grinned at the woman. "Cos I reckon anyone wearing a Shimmer doesn't want the Shimmer to be noticed or they wouldn't need a Shimmer in the first place."

"I'm sorry, what's a Shimmer?" She asked, frowning at man.

"Shimmer." He aimed the sonic at the woman's wrist and they watched as the woman changed from being human into a humanoid with green skin with small spikes protruding from her head.

"Oh, my Lord," Wilf gasped. "She's a cactus!"

"Miss Addams?" a male's voice asked through a radio.

The woman, Addams, rolled her eyes as she huffed. The Doctor looked at the screens with Daniel, frowning. "What's do those symbols mean?" Daniel asked.

"It's Vinvocci, that what she is, at least I think she is," he explained with a shrug. "But other then that I can't tell you much other then the Master's got it working."

"What's working?" A man wearing a lab coat entered the room. "What are you doing here?"

The Doctor aimed the sonic behind him at the man without looking. "Shimmer!" the man also turned into a green skinned alien. "Now tell me, quickly, what's going on, the Master, Harold Saxon? Skeletor, whatever you're calling him, what's he doing up there?"

"He's repairing the Gate." Addams informed them.

"But I checked the readings," her partner confirmed. "He's done good work. It's operational."

"Who are you? I met someone like you," the Doctor looked over at them. "He was brilliant, but he was little and red."

"No, that's a Zocci." Addams replied, sounding offended.

"We're _not_ Zocci, we're Vinvocci," her partner agreed, also sounding offended, but the Doctor grinned at Daniel as he had been right. "Completely different."

"And the Gate is Vinvocci. We're a salvage team. We picked up the signal when the humans reactivated it, and as soon as it's working, we can transport it to the ship."

"But what does the Gate do?" Daniel asked, looking at the two.

"Well, it mends, it's as simple as that," the male Vinvocci answered. "It's a medical device. It makes people better."

"No, there's got to be more," the Doctor cut in. "Every single warning says the Master's going to do something colossal." He checked the equipment.

"So that thing's like a sickbed, yes?" Wilf asked.

"More or less." Addams shrugged.

"Well, pardon me for asking, but why is it so big?"

"Oh, good questions, where have all these questions come from?" the Doctor asked from a nearby computer. "Why's it so big?"

Addams scoffed. "It doesn't just mend one person at a time."

"That would be ridiculous." Her partner laughed.

"It mends whole planets."

The Doctor looked at them with wide eyes, Daniel frowned. "It does what?!"

"It transmits the medical template across the entire population."

The Doctor ran out of the room as he ran out from the basement onto the main floor and towards the lab. Daniel chased after him, leaving Wilf behind as he knew he wouldn't be able to keep up with the younger men.

The Doctor ran into the lab. "Turn the Gate off, right now!" He shouted.

"At arms!" A man commanded just as Daniel ran in behind.

The guards aimed their rifles at the Doctor and Daniel. "You need to _leave_." the Doctor turned to Daniel, concerned.

"Not a chance!" Daniel stated, walking up the Doctor with a determined look on his face.

"Whatever you do, just don't let him near the device."

"Oh, like that was ever gonna happen," the Master removed the straight jacket with a burst of energy and leapt into the Gate with a scream. "Homeless, was I? Destitute and dying? Well, look at me now."

"Deactivate it. All of you, turn the whole thing off!"

No one moved, they all held their heads as images of the Master flashed in their minds. Daniel bit his lip as he felt the image of the Master enter his mind. "He's… inside my head." Naismith gasped.

"Get out of there!"

The Master fired an energy bolt at the Doctor and he fell to the floor, Wilf entered the room a hand pressed to his head. "Doctor!" He called as he staggered in. "Doctor, there's this face."

"What is it? What can you see?"

"Well, it's him. I can see him! I can see his face."

"There's something wrong," An American news report frowned on the TV. "It seems to be affecting the President." The TV showed footage of President Obama holding his face in his hands.

"Is there something we can do?" Daniel asked, shaking his head.

"I can't turn it off!" the Doctor exclaimed.

"That's because I locked it, idiot." The Master rolled his eyes.

The Doctor frowned looking around the room for something when he spotted a radiation booth with two doors. "Wilfred! Get inside, get him out," The Doctor grabbed Wilf and stepped inside the booth on opposite sides. "Just need to filter the levels."

"Oh! I can see again," Wilf breathed. "He's gone."

"Radiation shielding, now press the button, let me out."

"You what?"

"I can't get out until you press the button, that button there."

Wilf pressed the button the Doctor had pointed to and the Doctor rushed out. Daniel was sat by a computer and his eyes widened.

He had forgotten Daniel! He had protected Wilf from the Master's plan but what about Daniel! How could he have been so _thick_! Out of Wilf and Daniel, Daniel's mind would be a library of knowledge that the Master could use against him while Wilf's would only contain the bare minimum.

"You need to get to the TARDIS!" the Doctor whispered to Daniel.

"I'll be fine, I've had an alien breach my mind once before I'm sure I can shield myself from another," he smiled but it wavered, the Master's image was growing stronger by the second. "You taught me so I have faith."

"50 seconds and counting." The Master interrupted them, looking at a nearby wall clock.

"To what?" the Doctor asked.

"Oh, you're gonna love this."

As the Doctor and Daniel continued to find a way to stop the Gate, neither of them noticing that Wilf had pulled out a revolver or his mobile phone.

"What is it? Hypnotism? Mind control?" the Doctor questioned, Daniel stepped away from the computer to join him in the center of the room. "You're grafting your thoughts inside them, is that it?"

"Oh that's way to easy. No, no, no, they're not gonna think like _me_ … they're gonna become _me_ ," the Doctor looked horrified as Daniel stumbled over to him, tears in his eyes as his attempts to suppress the Master had failed. "And, zero!"

A wave of energy burst from the Gate, passing through them all.

"I l…" Daniel began…

… but the Doctor could only watch in horror as he watched Daniel's head shake back and forth with such speed that between certain moments he saw Daniel's face flicker to the Master and back again.

"He can't have!" the Doctor gasped. "I'm so sorry, Daniel."

Everyone around him, except for Wilf, began to change into the Master… and there was nothing he could do.

"What is it?" Wilf asked, his eyes wide as he watched Daniel change, before putting his mobile phone up to his ear… hearing Donna growing frantic on the other end. "Donna? Doctor!" he shouted to the man. "She's starting to remember. What is it? What have you done, you monster?"

"Oh, I'm sorry, are you talking to me? Or to me?" The Master laughed.

"Or to me?" Naismith-Master asked.

"Or to me?" Abigail-Master asked.

"Or to me?" one of the guards asked.

"Or to us?" A group of soldiers asked, lifting their masks, to reveal the Master's face.

"Breaking news – I'm everyone," the reporter grinned. "And everyone in the world is me!"

the reporter-Master had been replaced by President Obama now with the Master's face. "I'm President. President of the United States. Look at me!" the gathering of press began to applaud, their faces like the Master. "Oh, financial solution… deleted. Ha ha!"

The Master walked across the floor, his duplicates standing behind him. "The human race was always your favourite, Doctor. But now, there is no human race. There is only… the Master race," all the Masters laughed. "And it looks like there's one more left."

The final face to stop shaking was Daniel's. "I loath you!" Daniel-Master spat, before grinning. "Now _this_ is gonna be fun!"

To be continued…

A/N: MawHAHAHA! Daniel has been taken over by the Master and what was Daniel going to say?

Here are some answers to reviews:

Thank you for reviewing lol. I didn't really think just talking about it would have as much as an impact on Daniel as it would just speaking about it. I know! I can't wait for you all to see how Amy will interact with Daniel and the Doctor PLUS with how the Doctor will be with Daniel. It's gonna be fantastic

Up next is The End of Time (Part Two). What will happen with Daniel under the Master's control and how will the Daniel react to the Doctor regeneration? Find out Monday!


	6. The End of Time (Part Two)

Disclaimer: see _Planet of the Dead_

Breaking the Rule –The End of Time (Part Two)

~DW~

The Master grinned as he looked between the Doctor, who was currently strapped into a full body chair his entire body being restrained along with a strap covering his mouth, and to Wilf who was tied to a normal chair as he deemed the old man to not being a threat to his plans.

In the room also was Daniel-Master, who stood watching them with a strange look on his face as he assessed the situation. The only reason he hadn't been sent off to another room to work on a project was to remind the Doctor as he had failed to save another one of his precious humans.

"Now, then," the Master smirked. "I've got a planet a planet to run," he stepped into the center of the office as he looked at a TV screen. "Is everybody ready?"

"6, 727,949,338 versions of us awaiting orders." Naismith-Master reported from the lab.

"This is Washington," the President-Master appeared on the screen. "As President of the United States, I can transfer all the United Nations protocols to you immediately, putting you in charge of all the Earth's defences."

"Unit HQ, Geneva reporting," a UNIT-Master appeared. "All under your command, sir."

"And this is the Central Military Commission here in Beijing, sir," the commissioner-Master appeared. "With over 2.5 million soldiers, sir. Present arms!" the footage changed to an army of soldiers, all bearing the Master's face, presenting their rifles.

"Enough soldiers and weapons to turn this planet into a warship," the Master stated, turning to look at the Doctor, smirking. "Nothing to say… Doctor?" he walked over to the Doctor. "What's that? Pardon? Sorry?"

"You let them go, you swine." Wilf yelled, looking over to the Daniel-Master.

"Oh, your dad's still kicking up fuss."

"Yeah? Well, I'd be proud if I was."

"Hush, now," he put a finger to his lips. "Listen to your Master," Wilf's mobile began to ring, surprising him. "But that… that's a mobile."

"Yeah, it's mine, let me turn it off."

The Master frowned as he walked over to Wilf. "No, no, no. I don't think you understand. Everyone body on this planet… is me," he spoke slowly as if explaining it to a child. "And I'm not phoning you, so who the hell is that?" he knelt before Wilf and searched his pockets

"It's nobody. Probably some ring-back call."

He pulled out a revolver and showed it to the Doctor. "Oh, look at this. Good man!" he dropped it to the floor and continued his search until he found the phone. "'Donna.' Who's Donna?"

"She's no one, just leave it."

The Master answered it and placed it on speaker so they could all hear her. "Gramps… Don't hang up. You've got to help me. I ran out. Everyone was changing."

"Who is she? Why didn't she change?" The Master asked quietly.

"Gramps, I can't hear you."

"Well, it was this thing the Doctor did," Wilf frowned. "He did it to her. The Metacrisis."

"Oh he loves playing with Earth girls," he looked over at the Daniel-Master and then back to the Doctor, winking. "Even Earth boys. Ugh!"

The Doctor could only glare. "Are you there?" Donna asked.

"Find her. Trace the call." The Master turned to the screen.

"Trace the call." The Naismith-Master ordered his team.

"Are you still there?" Donna asked again, frantic. "Can you hear me?"

"Say goodbye to the freak, Granddad." The Master held the phone up to Wilf's ear.

"Donna, get out of there!" Wilf yelled. "Look, just get out of there! Run!"

"She's on Wessex Lane, Chiswick." A technician-Master reported.

"Open the phone lines. Everyone on Wessex Lane – red alert." Naismith commanded.

"What do I do?" Donna questioned.

"Run, sweetheart, that's all. Run for your life!" Wilf begged.

"There's more of them."

"Donna? What's happening? Are you still there?"

"They're everywhere…"

"Donna? Look, I'm telling you. Run, Donna! Just run, sweetheart. Just run!"

"It's not just them… I can see those things again. Those creatures…. Why can I see a giant _wasp_?"

"Donna, don't think about that, Donna, my love, don't!"

"And it hurts. My head, it keeps getting hotter, and hotter, and hotter, and hotter, and hotter!"

She screamed suddenly.

"What did I…"

The line went dead.

"Donna? What was that? Donna? Donna, are you there? Donna! Donna! Donna…"

The Master strode over to the Doctor, seeing him smirking behind the gag in his mouth, and removed it. "That's better," he worked his jaw, grinning at the Master. "Hello. But really, did you think I'd leave my best friend without a defence mechanism?"

"Doctor, what happened?"

"She's all right, she's fine, I promise. She'll just sleep."

The Master rolled his eyes before turning to the Daniel-Master. "Tell me, where's the TARDIS?"

He knew if he had asked the Doctor he would refuse but now he had one his companions under his control with no way to say no. he would finally have the TARDIS once again. "I-I don't know, sir." The Daniel-Master frowned. "It seems this form has advanced physic shielding and is blocking me from seeing _anything_ before the moment he stepped into the room."

The Master glared at the Doctor. "You could be so wonderful." Was all the Doctor said.

"Where is it?" The Master hissed.

"You're a genius. You're stone-cold brilliant. You are, I swear, you really are. But you could be so much more. You could be beautiful. With a mind like that, we could travel the stars. It would be my honour, Daniel would warm up to eventually, 'cause you don't need to own the universe, just see it. To have the privilege of seeing the whole of time and space. That's ownership enough."

"Would it stop, then? The noise in my head?"

"I can help."

"I don't know what I'd be without that noise."

"Wonder what I'd be, without you."

"Yeah." The Master sniffled.

"What does he mean? What noise?" Wilf asked, looking between them.

"It began on Gallifrey as children, not that you'd call it childhood," the Master sat on a table. "More a life of duty. Eight years old. I was for initiation. To stare into the Untempered Schism."

"What does that mean?"

"It's a gap in the fabric of reality," the Doctor explained. "You can see into the Time Vortex itself. And it hurts."

"They took me there, in the dark," the Master continued. "I looked into time, old man, and I heard it calling to me. Drums, the never-ending drums," he looked at the Doctor. "Listen to it. Listen."

"Then let's find it, you, me and Daniel." The Doctor pleaded.

"Except," the Master stood from the desk. "Oh! Oh, wait a minute. Oh, yes. Oh, that's good."

"What? What is it?"

"The noise exists within my head. And now within six billion heads. Everyone on Earth can hear it. Imagine! Oh… oh, yes!"

the Master laughed but he dropped to the floor in a crouch, his skeleton flashing once again. "The Gate wasn't enough. You're still dying." The Daniel-Master informed them.

"This body was born out of death, all it can do is die," he smacked away the Daniel-Master's hands away. "But what did you say to me, back in the wasteland?" he asked the Doctor. "You said 'the end of time'."

"I said something is returning," the Doctor reminded. "I was shown a prophecy. That's why I need your help."

"What if I'm part of it? Don't you see? The drumbeat is calling from so far away, from the end of time itself. And now it's been amplified six billion times. Triangulate all those signals. I could find its source! Oh, Doctor...that's what your prophecy was. Me!" he slapped the Doctor's cheeks, "Where's the TARDIS?"

"No. Just stop. Just think."

"Kill them," the Master pointed to Wilf and the Daniel-Master, a helmeted soldier walked over to Wilf and aimed a gun at his head. "I need that technology, Doctor. Tell me where it is or the old man is dead or I kill your precious companion… I can live with 6, 727,949,337."

"Don't tell him." Wilf pleaded.

"Sir?" the Daniel-Master breathed, looking at the Master with wide eyes.

"I'll kill him then I'll kill the other!" The Master threatened, ignoring the others.

"Actually, the most impressive thing about you is that after all this time; you're still bone-dead stupid." The Doctor rolled his eyes.

"Take aim." The Master rolled his neck.

The soldier aimed.

"You've got six billion pairs of eyes, even a good pair in the room now, but you still can't see the obvious, can you?"

"Like what?"

"That guard is one inch too tall."

The Master turned to look at the soldier who hit him with his rifle. Wilf let out a sigh of relief as the soldier removed his helmet to reveal the male Vinvocci from earlier. The Daniel-Master stood frozen.

"Oh, my god, I hit _him_ ," the Vinvocci gasped. "I've never hit anyone in my life."

Addams ran into the room and untied Wilf. "Well, come on! We need to get out of here, fast," she gasped when she saw the Daniel-Master standing. "I thought you knocked him out."

"Daniel?" the Doctor called to him, hoping that there was any part of him still in there.

"God bless the cactuses!" Wilf cheered, rubbing his wrists.

"That's CACTI." The Daniel-Master corrected, offering Wilf a smile.

It wasn't the same smile but he was still in there! Fighting the Master off! Fantastic Daniel!

"That's racist!" the male Vinvocci rolled his eyes before they widened as he looked to who was talking.

"We haven't much time, I can't hold the Master off forever," he warned them, wincing slightly as he felt the Master part of his mind wakening. "But you need to get out, your salvage so it means you have a ship nearby?" Addams nodded though she eyed him cautiously. "Get them off planet, I can buy you some time before they find you."

"This prophecy of yours, Doctor," the Naismith-Master frowned on screen. "Where did it come from? Doctor?"

"There's too many buckles and straps." The male Vinvocci whispered.

"Just wheel him." The Daniel-Master suggested.

"No, no, no! Daniel!" The Doctor called back to the man but he turned away, walking to the screen. "I'll save you!"

And with that unspoken promise, the Doctor was wheeled away out the office.

"What's going on?" the Naismith-Master asked, watching as the Daniel-Master entered the screen. "Where is the Doctor?"

~DW~

The Doctor was wheeled out of the office into the corridor. "Which way?" the male Vinvocci asked.

Addams and Wilf ran behind them. "This way." Addams stated as they passed some stairs that lead to the second floor.

~DW~

The Daniel-Master frowned as he stood before the Naismith-Master. "The Doctor has escaped and is heading to the roof," he informed him. "The form's mind has weakened and has shown the location of the TARDIS."

The Naismith-Master grinned as he stepped away from the screen.

"Good luck Doctor." The Daniel-Master muttered, spinning around when he was suddenly smacked in the face with the butt of a gun.

~DW~

"No, no, no, the _other_ way!" the Doctor struggled against the straps. "I've got my TARDIS."

"I know what I'm doing." Addams hissed.

"No, no, just… just listen to me!" his eyes widened when he saw some steps. "Not the stairs! Not the stairs!" they pushed him down the wide steps that led to the basement, each step had the Doctor grunting in pain. "Worst… rescue… ever!"

~DW~

The Master glared down at the unconscious body of the Daniel-Master. How he had managed to overpower his own mind was remarkable, it would seem that he was more of a threat then he had first thought.

There had to be something he wasn't seeing… but he was _human_! He wouldn't have been affected by the Gate if he wasn't. The Doctor was knowledgeable in psychic barriers but an _advanced_ barrier was something not even the Doctor could perform in situations, he might be able to look into his mind…

"Basement," the Master called over his shoulder, a wicked grin on his face. "Get him."

Oh he was going to _fun_ picking his mind apart.

~DW~

Addams led the way to the tech room under the lab. The Doctor still being pushed by the male Vinvocci. "Just… stop and listen to me!" he yelled at them.

A group of guards appeared, blocking the room. "Gotcha." A soldier stated.

"You think so?" Addams pressed her watch.

"No, no, no – don't, don't!"

They disappeared…

~DW~

… only to reappear on a ship. "Now get me out of this thing!"

"Don't say thanks, will you?"

"He's not going to let us go and _my_ friend is down there still!" he reminded them. "Just hurry up and get me out!"

"Oh, my goodness me," Wilf gasped as he looked out of a large circular window. "We're in space!"

"Come on!"

"All right!" Addams huffed.

"Get a move on!"

~DW~

Back on Earth, the Master groaned as he stepped away from the Daniel-Master's unconscious body. His attempts to break the psychic shielding had been fruitless as even though his mind should be weakened it was in fact stronger then ever before. Instead of showing the Master images of his travels with the Doctor it was almost like he was showing a clip show of his memories.

Humans weren't meant to have such a connection to psychic abilities and he smirked, an thought coming to his mind.

~DW~

"Come on!" the Doctor struggled against his bounds.

"All right!" Addams yelled, pulling off the straps.

Finally free of the chair, the Doctor used the sonic on one of the control panels, which exploded. "Where's your flight deck?"

"But we're safe! We're a hundred miles above the Earth."

"And he's got every single missile on the planet ready to fire!"

"Good point."

Addams led the way. The Doctor stopped when he realised Wilf wasn't following. He stepped back into the room and took the older man by the arm and led him out. "But we're in space!" Wilf breathed.

"Yup."

With a laugh, Wilf followed, running behind them as they reached the flight deck. "We've got to close it down!"

"No chance, mate, we're going home!" the male Vinvocci yelled.

"We're a salvage team," Addams agreed. "Local politics has nothing to do with us. Not unless there's a carnival. Sooner we get back to Vinvocci space the better."

"You're not leaving." The Doctor used the sonic onto a console and they watched as the ship went dead around them.

Addams and her partner opened their mouths to say something but the Doctor shushed them until the only sound that they could hear was the ship creaking.

"No sign of any missiles… no sign of… anything!" Addams informed them. "You've wrecked the place!"

"The engines are burnt out. Just auxiliary lights," her partner continued. "Everything else is kaput. We can't move. We're stuck, in orbit."

"Thanks to you. You idiot!" and with that Addams stormed out of the room, her partner following her.

"I know you though," Wilf turned to the Doctor. "I bet you've got a plan, haven't you? Eh? Come on! You've got a trick up your sleeve. Nice little bit of the old Doctor flimflam, ha-ha-ha, sort of thing? Eh?" the Doctor just looked at him, solemn. "Oh, blimey."

~DW~

The Doctor was working on some wiring when he looked out through the window and saw a meteor heading for Earth. He stood and walked to the window, frowning as he watched it.

~DW~

Wilf entered the flight deck to see the Doctor working with the wiring, a determined look on his face.

"Aye, aye, got this old tub mended?" Wilf asked.

"Just trying to fix the heating." The Doctor informed him with a sigh.

Wilf sat down beside him. "D'you know, I've always dreamt of a view like that," he chuckled as he looked out over the Earth. "I'm an astronaut. It's dawn over England, look. Brand new day," he sighed. "My wife's buried down there. I might never visit again now. D'you think he changed them, in their graves?"

"I'm sorry."

"No, not your fault."

"Isn't it?"

Wilf turned to look back out the window. "Oh… 1948, I was over there," he pointed to a country. "End of the Mandate in Palestine. Private Mott. Skinny little idiot, I was, stood on this rooftop, the middle of a skirmish. It was like a blizzard, all them bullets in the air. The world gone mad. Yeah, you don't want to listen to an old man's tale, do you?"

"I'm older than you."

"Get away."

"I'm 906."

"What, really, though?"

"Yeah."

"900 years," Wilf looked at the Doctor. "We must look like insects to you."

"I think you look like giants."

"Listen, I… I want you to have this," Wilf blinked back tears as he pulled out his revolver and tried to hand it to the Doctor. "I've kept it all this time, and I thought…"

"No."

"No, but if you take it, you could…"

"No," the Doctor shook his head. "You had that gun in the mansion. You could have shot the Master there and then."

"Too scared, I suppose." Wilf shrugged.

"I'd be proud."

"Of what?"

"If you were my dad."

"Oh, come on, don't start. But you said… you were told… he will knock four times, and then you die. Well, that's him, isn't it, the Master? That noise in his head? The Master is going to kill you. "

"Yeah."

"Then kill him first," he held out the revolver.

"And that's how the Master started," the Doctor sighed. "It's not like I'm innocent. I've taken lives. I got worse – I got clever. Manipulated people into taking their own. Sometimes I think a Time Lord lives too long. I can't. I just can't."

"If the Master dies… what happens to all the people?"

"I don't know."

"Doctor, _what_ happens?"

"The template snaps."

"What, they go back to being human?" he nodded. "They're alive and human? Then don't you dare, sir. Don't you DARE put him before them. Now you take this, that's an order, Doctor. Take the gun. You take the gun and save your life. You're the most wonderful man and I don't want you to die!" he sobbed as he took the Doctor's hand and placed it on the gun."

"Never." The Doctor pushed the gun away.

"A star… fell from the sky," the Master's voice came through the speakers. "Don't you want to know where from? Because it now makes sense, Doctor. The whole of my life. My destiny. The star was a diamond. And the diamond… is a Whitepoint star," the Doctor gasped. "And I have worked all night to sanctify that gift. Now the star is mine. I can increase the signal and use it as a lifeline. Do you get it now? Do you see? Keep watching, Doctor. This should be… spectacular. Over and out."

"What's he on about?" Wilf frowned. "What's he doing? Doctor, what does that mean?"

"A Whitepoint star is only found on one planet, Gallifrey," he told him. "It's the Time Lords. The Time Lords are returning."

"Well, that's good, isn't it? That's your people."

The Doctor grabbed the gun from Wilf's hands and, with a determined look, runs from the room with Wilf following. They ran into the observation deck where Addams and her partner were stood, the Doctor went straight to the PA system and switched it on.

Four beats repeated throughout the ship.

"What's that?" Addams asked.

"Coming from Earth," her partner checking a computer. "It's on every single wavelength."

"But you said your people were dead, past tense." Wilf frowned at the Doctor.

"Inside the Time War, when the whole War was time-locked," the Doctor began as he worked on equipment. "Like, sealed inside a bubble. It's not a bubble but think of a bubble. Nothing can get in or out of the time-lock. Don't you see? Nothing can get in or get out, except something that was already there."

"The signal," Wilf realised. "Since he was a child."

"If they can follow the signal, they can escape, before they die."

"Well, big reunion. We'll have a party."

"There will be no party."

"But I've heard you talk about your people like they're wonderful."

"That's how I choose to remember them, the Time Lords of old. But then they went to war, an endless war, and it changed them, right to the core. You've seen my enemies, Wilf. The Time Lords are more dangerous than any of them."

"Time Lords? What lords?" Addams cut in. "Anyone want to explain?"

"Right you!" the Doctor pointed at her. "This is a salvage ship, yes? You go trawling the asteroid fields for junk?"

"Yeah, what about it?"

"So, you've got asteroid lasers!"

"Yeah, but they're all frazzled." Her partner frowned.

"Consider them unfrazzled," the Doctor flipped a lever and two doors on opposite sides of the room slide open, looking at Addams. "You there, I'm going to need you on navigation," he pointed to her partner. "And you, get in the laser-pod. Wilfred?"

"Yeah?" Wilfred answered.

"Laser number two. The old soldier's got one more battle."

"Right." He tapped the Doctor on the arm and stood.

"This ship can't move. It's dead!" Addams reminded him with a huff.

"Fix the heating." He grinned.

The Doctor pushed two large levers on either side of the control panel and the ship powered up.

"But now they can see us."

"Oh, yes!"

"This is my ship and you're not moving it. Step away from the wheel."

"There's an old Earth saying, Captain, a phrase of great power and wisdom, and consolation to the soul in times of need."

"What's that, then?"

"Allons-y!" The Doctor took control of the ship and drove it straight towards the Earth. "Come on!" the ship began to burn as it entered the atmosphere. "Come on!"

"You are blinkin', flippin' mad!"

"You two. What did I say? Lasers."

"What for?" Addams partner asked.

"Because of the missiles. We've got to fight off the entire planet!"

"We've got incoming!" Addams called as she looked at a scanner.

"You two! Open fire!" the Doctor called.

The Doctor manoeuvred the ship avoid some missiles that had gotten too close behind him. "Open fire! Come on, Wilf!"

"And there's more, 16 of them. Oh!" Addams groaned. "And _another_ 16."

"You two, open fire! NOW!" he watched the scanner as the blips from the missiles started to slowly fade away as they were taken out by Wilf and the other man's firing. "No, you don't!" he sent the ship into the spin and through the Doctor's piloting and the laser fire, they destroyed all the missiles. "Lock the navigation!"

"Onto what?"

"England! The Naismith mansion!" The Doctor shouted to her. "Destination?"

"50 klicks and closing." They could see the English coast and the countryside as they made their way to the mansion. "We've locked on to the house. We are going to stop, though?" the Doctor didn't answer. "Doctor? We _are_ going to stop?!"

"Doctor!" Wilf and the Vinvocci ran back into the room. "Doctor, you said you were going to die."

"He said _what_?!" Addams exclaimed.

"But is that all of us?" Wilf continued. "I won't stop you, sir, but is this it?"

The Doctor aimed the ship at the mansion, pulling up at the last moment, he lifted the hatch from the floor. Below he could see the mansion, the glass dome that housed the Gate… that was were the Master and Daniel were. With gun in hand, he paused to look at Wilf before jumping from the ship. He fell through the sky, crashing through the glass dome and into the center of the room on his stomach. To his side he could see the Daniel-Master tied to a chair, slumped forward as he recovered from the Master's mental probing, then to where the President of Gallifrey, Rassilon, stood with four other Time Lords and Ladies, two of them on their knees with hands covering their faces in shame. With a shaking hand, the Doctor aimed the revolver at Rassilon… but his arm dropped to the floor, weak from the fall.

"My Lord Doctor," Rassilon strode forwards. "My Lord Master. We are gathered for the end."

Grunting, the Doctor slowly rose, first on all fours and then kneeling, resting on the back of his legs. The Daniel-Master's head lifted up to see the Doctor and then over to where the Time Lords stood, his eyes widening as he recognised the clothing they wore.

"Listen to me. You can't." the Doctor tried to plead.

"It is fitting paradox that our salvation comes at the hands of our most infamous child." Rassilon cut in, staring down at the Doctor.

"Oh, he's not saving you. Don't you realise what he's doing?" Daniel called over from the side, Rassilon's eyes widened as he turned to look at him. "I've been inside his head I've seen his plan…"

He was cut off by the Master back handing him. "Hey, no, hey! That's mine. Hush." he hissed at Daniel before turning to face Rassilon. "Look around you. I've transplanted myself into every single human being. But who wants a mongrel little species like them? Because now I can transplant myself into every single Time Lord. Oh, yes, Mr President, sir, standing there all noble and resplendent and decrepit. Think how much better you're going to look as me!" Rassilon held out his gauntlet-covered hand, and, as it glowed, the humans in the room returned to their original selves. "No, don't! No, no, no, stop it! No, no! No, no! Don't!"

"On your knees, mankind!" Rassilon commanded.

The humans in the room, bare Daniel, knelt, scared.

"No, that's fine, that's good, because you said salvation," the Master rolled his neck. "I still saved you, don't forget that."

"The approach begins."

There was a low rumbling and the room got brighter. "Approach of what?!"

"Something is returning," the Doctor scoffed, looking over at the normal looking Daniel, who winced as he worked his jaw. "Don't you ever listen? That was the prophecy. Not someone, something."

"What is it?"

"They're not just bringing back the species," the Doctor continued. "It's Gallifrey. Right here, right now."

They looked up as a glowing red planet appeared in sky above, the humans ran out of the room screaming. "But I… I did this," the Master fell to one knee. "I get the credit! I'm on your side." The Master sounded like a child begging to not be told off for something he had done.

Wilf fought his way into the room. "Come on, get out of the way!" he pushed through, his eyes widening when he saw Daniel. "Oh my stars! Daniel!"

He made his way over to him and untied him. "Thanks Wilf," Daniel smiled, touching his cheek gently. "I'm glad your alright." He hugged the older man, who hugged him in return.

There was an urgent knocking from behind them. One of the technicians is locked in the booth. "Somebody, please!" the technician called out to them.

"All right! I've got you." Wilf stepped away from Daniel and entered the booth.

"Wilf, don't," the Doctor called to him. "Don't!"

Wilf pressed the button to release the other booth. "I've got you. Come on, go on."

The technician ran from the room and Daniel ran to the Doctor side. "What the hell were you thinking!" he hissed to the Doctor, hugging him from the side. "Jumping through the glass dome! You didn't have to do that to impress me, you know!"

The Doctor let out a small laugh and returned the side hug, wincing slightly.

The Master stood. "But this is fantastic, isn't it?" The Master breathed as the Doctor and Daniel glared at him. "The Time Lords restored."

They wouldn't be alone at last! Finally the Time Lords would return and they wouldn't be alone in the universe! So… why was the Doctor glaring at him.

"You weren't there in the final days of the War," the Doctor began. "You never saw what was born. But if the time-lock's broken, then _everything's_ coming through, not just the Dalek's, but the Skaro Degredations, the Horde of Travesties, the Nightmare Child, the Could-Have-Been King with is army of Meanwhiles and Never-weres, the War turning to hell. And that's what you opened, right above the Earth. Hell is descending!"

"My kind of world." The Master shrugged.

"Just listen! 'Cause even the Time Lords can't survive that!"

"We will initiate the Final Sanction," Rassilon nodded. "The end of time will come at my hand. The rupture will continue, until it rips the Time Vortex apart."

"That's suicide." The Master gasped, horrified.

"We will ascend to become creatures of consciousness alone, free of these bodies, free of time, and cause and effect, while creation itself ceases to be."

"You see now? That's what they were planning in the final days of the War. I had to stop them." The Doctor stated.

"Then take me with you, Lord President," the Master knelt with his arms outstretched. "Let me ascend into glory."

"You are diseased," Rassilon sneered at him. "Albeit a disease of our own making. No more."

The Master lowered his arms, realising that he couldn't do anything now, the Time Lords weren't ever going to accept him. Rassilon held out the gauntlet-covered hand. As the energy started to hum, there was a click. The Doctor aimed the revolver at Rassilon as he stood in front of the Master and Daniel.

"Choose your enemy well," Rassilon glared. "We are many. The Master is but one."

"But he's the President," The Master reminded. "Kill him, and Gallifrey could be yours!" The Doctor turned, now aiming the gun at the Master. "He's to blame, not me! Oh, the link inside my head. Kill me, the link gets broken, they go back. You never would, you coward. Go on then… do it!" the Doctor turned back to Rassilon. "Exactly. It's not just me, it's him. He's the link, kill him!"

"The final act of your life is murder," Rassilon scoffed. "But which one of us?"

Daniel could only watch with tears in his eyes, unable to do or say anything that could prevent the Doctor from killing anyone. The Doctor looked past Rassilon and saw one of the Time Ladies lower her hands from her face, and his eyes widened. There were tears running down her face as she looked at him with such pride and such sadness.

She looked past the Doctor to where Daniel stood as she eyed the man with a small smile then back to the Doctor. The Doctor frowned in confusion as tears began to grow in his own eyes as he looked at the woman… his mother. With a subtle nod of her head to something behind the Doctor, he knew what that meant. The Doctor turned once more. The Master looked at the Doctor with sadness in his eyes.

"Get out of the way," the Master smiled as he dived out of the way and Daniel jumped back as they watched the Doctor shoot a device holding the Whitepoint star and the link between Earth and Gallifrey. The machine went up in flames. "The link is broken. Back into the Time War, Rassilon. Back into hell."

Above them Gallifrey began to flicker. "You'll die with me, Doctor!" Rassilon yelled.

"I know."

"No!" Daniel gasped as he stood before the Doctor, not wanting the prophecy to be fulfilled, arms stretched to the side as if to block him from stepping in front of him.

The Doctor's mother covered her eyes once more, not wanting to see the death of her son or Daniel. Rassilon held out his hand, eyes hardening at the human who dared defy him.

"Get out of the way." the Master stood from behind, rubbing his hands together.

The Master fired a bolt of energy as the Doctor pulls Daniel to the side, pulling him to his chest as they hugged. The bolt striked Rassilon in the chest and he staggered back.

"You did this to me!" The Master roared at him. "All my life!" He used his other hand to throw another bolt. "You made me! One! Two! Three! FOUR!"

With each bolt he stepped closer until he was within the pull of the link. A bright white light flashed within the room as the Time Lords and Ladies disappeared. Gallifrey finally faded away.

The Doctor and Daniel pulled away from each other and looked at each other. "You're alive." Daniel breathed, his eyes wide as he placed a hand to the Doctor cheek.

"I'm alive…" the Doctor blinked back tears as he looked at Daniel. "I'm still alive!" he laughed.

They both hugged once again, laughing, before the Doctor pulled away and held Daniel by his shoulders. "What is it?" Daniel asked, tears in his eyes.

It was now or never, the Doctor thought, as he leant down until he was inches away from Daniel's face. Their eyes had closed and Daniel was ready to close the distance…

There was four knocks.

Their eyes opened and the jumped back from each other, the moment gone, as they looked around for the knocking. Daniel's eyes widened as he looked over to where Wilf stood and tears began to fill his eyes… they had failed.

Wilf knocked four more times and gave them both a little wave. "They've gone, then?" He felt embarrassed for ruining the moment the Doctor and Daniel had. "Good-oh. If you could let me out…?"

"Yeah." The Doctor whispered.

"Only, this thing seems to be making a bit of noise."

"The Master… left the nuclear bolt running. It's gone into overload."

"And that's bad, is it?"

"No… 'cause all the excess radiation gets vented inside there," the Doctor looked at Wilf. "Vinvocci glass contains it. All 500,000 rads, about to flood that thing."

"Oh!" Wilf chuckled nervously. "Well, you'd better let me out, then."

"Except it's gone critical. Touch one control and it floods," he took out of the sonic. "Even this would set if off."

"I'm sorry." Wilf breathed, looking at the crying Daniel and then at the Doctor, realising what would happen.

"Sure."

"Look, just leave me." Wilf tried to smile.

"Okay, right, then we will," the Doctor began to pace. "'Cause you had to go in there, didn't you? You had to go and get stuck, oh, yes! 'Cause that's who you are, Wilfred. You were always this. Waiting for me all this time."

"No, really, just leave me," Wilf begged. "I'm an old man, Doctor, I've had my time, just take Daniel and get out of here."

"But he would never forgive me if I did that! He would _never_ look at me the same if I did that! look at you, not remotely important. But me? I could do so much more," the Doctor voice cracked and Daniel turned away from them, a hand coming to cover his mouth as his shoulders began to sob into his hand. "So much more! But this is what I get. My reward. And it's not fair!" the Doctor pushed items off a nearby desk in a fit of rage before looking over at Daniel, so desperately wishing that there was some other way. "Oh, lived too long."

Wilf's eyes widened and tears began to fill his eyes as the Doctor walked to the booth. "No… no, no, please, don't," Wilf begged. "No, don't. Don't… Please Don't! Please!"

The Doctor put his hand on the door to the other booth. "Wilfred… it's my honour," Daniel turned to look back to the booth, running up to try and stop the Doctor. "Better be quick. Three, two, one."

The Doctor stepped inside the booth and pressed the button, releasing Wilf, his booth is then flooded with radiation. Daniel had been too late and crumpled to his knees with a gasp as he watched the Doctor groan and slide down onto the floor; Wilf wrapped an arm around his shoulders as they watched. The Doctor curled up on the floor in pain.

They watched as the machine switched off. The Doctor slowly unwinds and sat up, looking at Daniel and Wilf. "What…?" Wilf breathed, shocked and confused. "Hello."

"Hi."

"Still with us?"

Daniel looked over at the Doctor, his eyes wide as he watched the Doctor stand. "They system's dead. I absorbed it all. Whole thing's kaput," he put his hand on the door and it swung open. "Oh. Now it opens, yeah."

"There we are then, safe and sound," Wilf tried to laugh, giving Daniel's shoulders squeeze. "Mind you, you're in hell of a state. You've got some battle scars there," they watched as the Doctor covered his face with his hands, wiping it, only to find all the cuts he had suffered from the fall were healed. "But they've… your face! How did you do that?"

The Doctor looked down at his hands. "It's started."

Daniel stepped away from Wilf and hugged the Doctor, sobbing once again. The Doctor wrapped an arm around him as Wilf placed a hand on his back, both of them looking solemn.

~DW~

Wilf and the Doctor stepped out of the TARDIS as it had materialised in front of his house, Sylvia stood in the doorway, smiling. Daniel had remained inside the TARDIS, jokingly saying that he'd rather not be seen looking like a tomato.

"Oh, she's smiling," the Doctor teased. "As if today wasn't bad enough. Anyway… don't go thinking this is goodbye, Wilf. We'll see you again, one more time."

"What do you mean?" Wilf turned to look at him. "When's that?"

"Just keep looking. We'll be there."

"Where are you going?"

"To get my reward."

And with that, the Doctor stepped into the TARDIS and closed the door.

~DW~

The Doctor stood on a catwalk in a abandoned warehouse, a Sontaran lying face first on the floor beside him, as he looked down at Mickey and Martha Smith.

They looked up to see the Doctor standing there and waved. The Doctor nodded to them and entered the TARDIS, missing the couple hugging as they realised what was happening.

~DW~

Daniel watched as the Doctor ran out of the TARDIS the moment it had materialised. He was alone and the TARDIS herself was unusually silent. "What's going to happen to him?" Daniel asked the box.

They had spoken about regeneration before but the Doctor hadn't explained it to the point where Daniel could understand what was going to happen.

The monitor moved to face Daniel as it began to play footage of the Doctor's regenerations all the way from his first incarnation as an old greying man all the way up until his current incarnation.

"Does it hurt him?" Daniel asked but the box never answered for she didn't know an answer that wouldn't break Daniel's heart.

~DW~

The Doctor ran out of the TARDIS and out onto the street of Bannerman Road where Luke Smith was talking into his phone, unaware of the car heading directly towards him, when the Doctor pulled Luke back to safety as the car honked it horn.

"But it's you! You're…" he watched as the Doctor headed back into the TARDIS. "Mum!" He looked across the road before running to 13 Bannerman Road. "Mum!"

Sarah Jane exited the house after hearing the honking. "What?" she asked, looking at her son. "What is it?"

"It's him. It's the Doctor."

She and Luke looked back to the TARDIS. The Doctor unlocked the TARDIS and looked back at them. He raised his hand in a little wave. Sarah Jane smiled sadly as tears began to fill her eyes.

~DW~

Daniel had joined the Doctor this time as they stood in an alien bar, looking over at Jack Harkness as he drank. They watched as the bartender handed Jack the note the Doctor had written.

Jack frowned and looked up at the Doctor, who nodded to the man who had just taken a seat beside him. Jack looked at the man then back at the Doctor, who saluted a finger to his forehead. Jack in return gave him a proper salute and watched as they walked away.

~DW~

The Doctor stood in line at a book store, waiting for a chance to speak with Verity Newman, the author of a book called 'A Journal of Impossible Things.' The TARDIS had brought up a family tree of the Redfern family and he found out Joan had marred a nice man and like in his vision as John Smith had grown to have a large and ever expanding family.

"No, it's not just a story, no," Verity was telling a man. "Every word of it is true. I found my great grandmother's diary in the loft. She was a nurse in 1913, and she fell in love with this man called John Smith, except he was a visitor… from another world. She fell in love with a man from the stars. And she wrote it all down."

Verity closed the book and slide it to the man. "Thank you."

The man left and the Doctor placed down his book on to the table. "And who's it for?" Verity asked, not looking up.

"The Doctor." He answered.

"'To the Doctor'," she chuckled. "Funny, that's the name he used." She looked up and her eyes widened as she looked at the Doctor.

"Was she happy… in the end?"

"Yes. Yes, she was. Were you?"

The Doctor smiled ruefully, lip trembling. He picked up the book and left the store, meeting Daniel by the TARDIS that was parked across the road. Verity watched for a moment before she returned to signing the books.

~DW~

True to his word, the Doctor and Daniel stepped out of the TARDIS and watched from a distance as Donna Noble stood by her husband's side, her friends around her as she had a picture taken. They watched as Sylvia turned to look at them and nudged Wilf, before they quickly walked over to them.

"And here you are, same old," Wilf smiled at them. "Didn't I tell you you'd be all right? Oh! They've arrested Mr. Naismith, it was on the news," he informed them. "Crimes undisclosed. And his daughter. Both of 'em, locked up. Yeah, but I keep thinking, Doctor, there's one thing you never told me. That woman, who was she?"

The Doctor didn't answer, instead Daniel reached into his pocket and pulled out an envelope. "We wanted to give you this," he handed the envelope to Wilf. "Wedding present. The Doctor thought it would be funny to throw me out of the TARDIS and I had to borrow a quid off a really lovely man… what was his name again?"

The Doctor smiled at him. "Geoffrey Noble."

Sylvia gasped as tears filled her eyes. "'Have it' Daniel said. 'Have it on me.'"

The Doctor nodded to Sylvia and Wilf while Daniel hugged Wilf and shook hands with her. They watched as Wilf and Sylvia hurried over to Donna before looking at each other in shock. They looked back over to see Daniel and the Doctor about to enter the TARDIS but looking over to them. Wilf saluted them before they entered the TARDIS. Wilf blow them a kiss as Sylvia wrapped an arm around his shoulders.

~DW~

"One more stop," Daniel said as he pulled to TARDIS into the vortex. "One last goodbye."

He frowned not sure what he meant but once the TARDIS materialised he found himself standing onto a familiar snowy estate and upon Daniel's instructions, hid himself in a doorway.

"I'm late now, I've missed it," Rose Tyler said as she walked down towards the Powell Estate with Jackie Tyler. "It's midnight. Mickey'll be calling me everything. This is your fault."

"No, it's not, it's Jimbo!" Jackie defended herself, crossing her arms. "He said he was going to give us a lift, then he said his axle broke. I can't help it."

"Get rid of him Mum, he's usless."

"Listen to you! With a mechanic. Be fair though, my time of life, I'm not gonna do much better."

"Don't be like that. You never know. There could be someone out there."

"Maybe. One day," Jackie smiled over to Rose. "Happy New Year."

"Happy New Year!" they hugged each other. "Don't stat out all night."

"Try and stop me."

And with that Jackie Tyler stepped away from Rose, offering her a wave. Rose continued on, walking past the Doctor. He grunted in pain as wave of regeneration energy hit him. "You all right, mate?" Rose asked.

"Yeah." He groaned.

"Too much to drink?"

"Something like that."

"Maybe it's time you went home," Rose suggested and looked over to where the TARDIS stood but not at it but more to Daniel who had stepped out of the TARDIS, ready to get the Doctor into the TARDIS if he couldn't made the walk. "Look's like your mate is here to help."

"Yeah." The Doctor laughed sadly.

"Anyway… Happy New Year."

"And you," Rose began to walk away. "What year is this?" Daniel hadn't told him but he could only assume that it was before she had met _this_ him and not his 9th self.

"Blimey, how much have you had?!" she grinned at him as he shrugged. "2005, January 1st."

"2005? Tell you what. I bet you're going to have a really _great_ year."

"Yeah? See ya." With a cheeky grin, Rose ran off back into her block of flats.

The Doctor watched her go. He grunts again in pain and walks along the wall, one hand resting on the bricks to support him, he could see Daniel walking towards him slowly. His arm began to quiver as he struggled to keep himself up right and Daniel reached him just in time as he cried out in pain and fell to the ground.

"I've got you," Daniel whispered, tears streaming down his face as he _knew_ the time was coming. "Can you walk?"

Behind Daniel stood Ood-Sigma. "We will sing to you both, Doctor and his phoenix," Ood-Sigma spoke, bowing his head to the pair. "The universe will sing you to your sleep Doctor," the Doctor leant against Daniel as they walked past the Ood. "And the universe shall sing for your broken heart phoenix. The song is ending. But the story never ends."

They reached the TARDIS, Daniel having not bothered to close the doors and stepped inside.

~DW~

The Doctor leant heavily on the doors as they closed behind him; the box was quiet around him. Daniel had set the TARDIS to stay in the vortex to allow the Doctor to regenerate in peace and to recover without fear of being attacked. Daniel stopped by the walkway to the doors, his back facing the Doctor as he tried to control his tears.

The Doctor pulled himself along by the handrail; he made his way to Daniel while pulling off his coat. He looked down at his right hand as it began to glow gold with energy. "I can't believe I'm saying goodbye." Daniel whispered as the Doctor stood behind him.

"Neither can I," the Doctor admitted, wincing as he tried to hold off his regeneration long enough to give Daniel some comfort. "It'll be hard, I know it will, but the moment you say you need time to grieve I'll drop you off at Sarah's and you call me when you're ready, I promise."

Daniel nodded, biting his lip as he turned to face the Doctor. "Thank you."

"I don't want to go." He whispered to Daniel, to the universe, to _anyone_ who was listening.

The energy began to flow from his face, down to this hands until every inch of visible skin was glowing gold. Daniel jumped away as he throw his hands out to the side and his head back as the energy poured out from him. It was too much for the TARDIS and Daniel wince as parts of the box caught fire, some of the beams collapsing and the console began to spark and ignite.

He could only watch as the Doctor collapsed to the floor with a scream.

"Legs, I've still got legs, good," the Doctor cheered, kissing his knees. "Arms. Hands. Ooh, fingers, lots of fingers. Ears, yes. Eyes, two. Nose, I've had worse. Chin, blimey, hair," he ran a hand through his now longer hair. "I'm a girl!" he checked his neck, sighing in relief as he felt his Adam's apple. "No! no… I'm not a girl," he pulled his hair in front of his eyes. "And _still_ not ginger! And something else, _someone_ important, I'm, I'm… I'm…" the console exploded behind Daniel, who jumped back in shock. "Ha! Crashing!"

He jumped up off the floor and his eyes widened when he saw Daniel, who had busied himself with the trying to pilot the TARDIS. That's the 'someone' important he had forgotten about! What would he think of this new body? Oh it would be interesting! Oh yes, very interesting indeed. Had Daniel even seen his new body? No, by the looks of it he seemed to be focused on the TARDIS crashing out of the vortex.

"Geronimo!" The Doctor yelled as he ran up to join Daniel at the console as the TARDIS began to spiral out of control around them.

The Doctor and Daniel will return in… Changes and Discoveries

A/N: And he reached the end of Breaking the Rule! Thank you to everyone who followed, favourited and reviewed, it has meant so much to me hearing what everyone thought. Daniel and the Doctor will return next Monday as usual for the Eleventh Hour!

I didn't think I was going to cry while writing this but hey ho I had to stop towards the end. I can't believe it's over.

An answer to reviews:

Mwahaha! As much as I wanted to have the Tenth Doctor confess his feelings for Daniel, I had planned for them to kiss moments before he regenerated, but I think Daniel wouldn't truly believe that he meant it. This will be brought up in Series 5. Hints of what will come for Daniel will be seen in Series 5. Maybe the Master did something or maybe he didn't… who knows.

Thank you! Us Male!OC Companions have got to stick together. I think that sometimes companions do forget that the Doctor does have a dark side, I guess it's because he doesn't go full dark, but I always thought that The Waters of Mars is the only episode, that I can remember clearly, that the Doctor does embrace the darkness inside him. Daniel opinion of the Doctor won't change much but I think he'll try and coaxes him out of the darkness. But I will say that Daniel can't stop all his darkest moments.

It's a shame when stuff like that happens but that is life. I had to wait at least two years for one of my favourite, and the reason I wanted to write Doctor Who Fanfiction, writers on here to update. Fingers crossed I don't fall off the face of the Earth but I can say I will continue to update on a weekly basis. I will have to find the story and give it a read.

Thank you so much! It was kind of hard when trying to place Daniel in an episode that wouldn't make him stand out too much. Like Daniel doesn't have any connections to anything other than Torchwood One, but with that gone, he's just a human. I had thought about him being in Midnight but I don't think that episode really would have made the Doctor think 'I like this human, I'll take this human with me and Donna.' But I'm glad you think he makes a great companion for the Doctor.

But until next time. I've been Landing and this has been Breaking the Rule.


End file.
